A Homily by Father Franklyn M. McAfee - "The Beauty of Religious Life"

Homily of Reverend Franklyn M. McAfee, D.D.

Pastor Emeritus

St. John the Beloved Catholic Church

McLean, Virginia

September 21, 2008

The Demise of Great Books

From The Daily Texan
By John Davidson

The latest chapter in the long, depressing story of classical liberal education in America is unfolding here in Austin, where the University of Texas has recently snuffed out a nascent Great Books program.

The tale began in 2002, when UT philosophy professor Robert Koons and a few others started working to establish a program focused on Western civilization and the Great Books. Their idea was to develop an alternative liberal arts curriculum that would require undergraduates to read, systematically, seminal western texts such as the Bible, the works of ancient Greece and Rome and the American founding documents. This was considered radical at UT.

Koons and his cohorts persevered despite stiff opposition, and last fall the Program in Western Civilization and American Institutions began offering classes. It was, by all accounts, a smashing success: Students were signing up, alumni were sending checks (Koons raised more than $1 million) and a speaker series sponsored by the program was hugely popular. It seemed that classical liberal education was experiencing a renaissance at UT.

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A Note to Sunlit Uplands Readers

I want to inform our faithful readers that posting on Sunlit Uplands will be light at best for the foreseeable future. I remain very much in the battle, but have recently deployed to another battlefield here in South Carolina, where I will be addressing the issues and causes raised on the blog over the last two years.

As we have noted, the Obama administration deserves credit for rousing a great, sleeping giant -- the broad, patriotic, faithful, heartland of America. As Tea Parties in Washington and across the nation are demonstrating, Americans are demanding a renewed respect for the Constitution, fiscal responsibility, decentralized government, states' rights, and individual liberty. For our part, we will be working to ensure that "we the people" have representation in the United States Congress that will preserve and strengthen this republic under God.

We will continue to post important items, our weekend features, and "Sunlit News" will be regularly updated. As always, reader submissions and suggestions are most welcome. It has been a great joy to see the very positive response to Sunlit Uplands and our steadily growing number of faithful readers. The response from friends and critics has been a great source of encouragement and motivation.

I look forward to resuming more regular posting after the Republican Primary of next June. In the meantime, please keep our efforts and our nation in your prayers.

Daniel J. Cassidy

Cambridge Singers - "For the Beauty of the Earth" - John Rutter

A Homily by Father Franklyn M. McAfee - "The Divorce of Christ from Culture"

Homily of Reverend Franklyn M. McAfee, D.D.

Pastor Emeritus

St. John the Beloved Catholic Church McLean, Virginia

October 28, 2007

Federal Regulations Imposed on Your Next Garage Sale

The liberals are quick to assure us that they don't care what goes on in your bedroom, but that may be the only room the Obama administration is willing to overlook. Should we be surprised that South Carolina's own Inez Tenenbaum, newly installed as Chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, has a raft of rules and regulations to impose on your next garage sale?

If any of our readers has any experience with this, would you please let us know when the Federal Garage Sale Inspectors show up?

From Fox News
By Diane Macedo

Americans who slap $1 pricetags on their used possessions at garage sales or bazaar events risk being slapped with fines of up to $15 million, thanks to a new government campaign.

The "Resale Round-up," launched by the Consumer Product Safety Commission, enforces new limits on lead in children's products and makes it illegal to sell any items that don't meet those limits or have been recalled for any other reason.

The strict standards were set in the 2008 Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act after a series of high-profile recalls of Chinese-made toys.

The standards were originally interpreted to apply only to new products, but now the CPSC says they apply to used items as well.

"Those who resell recalled children's products are not only breaking the law, they are putting children's lives at risk,” said CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum. "Resale stores should make safety their business and check for recalled products and hazards to children."

In order to comply, stores, flea markets, charities and individuals selling used goods — in person or online — are expected to consult the commission's 24-page Handbook for Resale Stores and Product Resellers (pdf) and its Web site for a breakdown of what they can't sell.

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Best Restaurants of South Carolina

The readers of Open Table, an online reservation service for over 11,000 restaurants around the world, have chosen the 10 "Best Overall" restaurants of South Carolina.

The Melting Pot of Myrtle Beach

Devereaux's, Greenville

Four Moons, Orangeburg

Halls Chophouse, Charleston

Rick Erwin's West End Grill, Greenville

The Studio, Hilton Head

McCrady's, Charleston

Old Fort Pub, Hilton Head

Solstice Kitchen, Columbia

Langdon's Restaurant & Wine Bar, Mount Pleasant

In addition to these "Best Overall" restaurants, the website readers have rated scores of others under such categories as "Outdoor Dining," "American," and "Neighborhood Gem."

Now if we only had consumer choice and competition among our schools, South Carolina might have schools as good as our restaurants.

Obama: Legalize Illegals to Get Them Health Care

When Obama stated that illegals will not be covered under socialized Obamacare, did anyone not see this coming? Legalize the 20 to 40 million illegals -- problem solved.

Republicans see a backdoor move toward 'amnesty'


From The Washington Times
By Stephen Dinan

President Obama said this week that his health care plan won't cover illegal immigrants, but argued that's all the more reason to legalize them and ensure they eventually do get coverage.

He also staked out a position that anyone in the country legally should be covered - a major break with the 1996 welfare reform bill, which limited most federal public assistance programs only to citizens and longtime immigrants.

"Even though I do not believe we can extend coverage to those who are here illegally, I also don't simply believe we can simply ignore the fact that our immigration system is broken," Mr. Obama said Wednesday evening in a speech to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. "That's why I strongly support making sure folks who are here legally have access to affordable, quality health insurance under this plan, just like everybody else.

Mr. Obama added, "If anything, this debate underscores the necessity of passing comprehensive immigration reform and resolving the issue of 12 million undocumented people living and working in this country once and for all."

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Conservative Leaders Urge FRC President to Tell the Truth About Romney's Pro-Sodomy, Pro-Abortion Record

From Christian Newswire

This weekend, leading Christian pro-family advocacy organization Family Research Council (FRC) will feature former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney as one of its featured speakers at its "Value Voters Summit" www.valuesvotersummit.org. Despite Romney's unbiblical and far left-wing record as Massachusetts governor on the issues FRC claims to care the most about, FRC President Tony Perkins continues to refer to Romney as a "friend of the pro-family movement."

That's why we have authored the website www.tonyperkinstellthetruth.blogspot.com, because we believe someone claiming to stand for biblical teaching, as Mr. Perkins claims to, should have the integrity to tell the truth about the candidates he's providing a platform to reach Christian voters.

"In Mitt Romney's healthcare plan that he is applauding you can get an abortion for $50," said noted GOP strategist Mary Matalin on 1040-WHO Radio in Des Moines, Iowa, on December 12th, 2007.

We would like to ask Mr. Perkins if Ms. Matalin is lying, and if she isn't, do taxpayer-funded, $50 elective surgical abortions sound like a policy signed into law (2 years AFTER Romney's supposed "pro-life conversion") by a "friend of the pro-family movement?"

Please tell the truth, Mr. Perkins.

CNS.com reported on August 25th, 2008, that before the Massachusetts legislature had even had a chance to pass a law legalizing homosexual marriages (which they never did), Governor Romney unilaterally and unconstitutionally authorized the illegal alterations to and issuance of marriage licenses to homosexual couples, and even went so far as to demand that justices of the peace who wouldn't perform homosexual "marriages" for moral reasons, resign. www.cnsnews.com/news/article/34561

We would like to ask Mr. Perkins if CNS.com is lying, and if it isn't, does that sound like the actions of a, "friend of the pro-family movement?"

Please tell the truth, Mr. Perkins.

Attorney, scholar, and activist Phyllis Schlafly said Romney was claiming he had to "follow the law" when he unilaterally and illegally enacted homosexual "marriages," but that "there is no law (in Massachusetts) that requires or even allows" homosexual marriages. www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=56674

We would like to ask Mr. Perkins if Ms. Schlafly is a liar, and if she isn't, does this sound like the actions of a "friend of the pro-family movement?"

Please tell the truth, Mr. Perkins.

In March of 2008, World Magazine reported the late Paul Weyrich admitted in a room of his peers at the Council for National Policy meeting in New Orleans, that he was wrong to have endorsed Romney for president. Weyrich is reported to have said, "Before all of you and almighty God I want to say I was wrong" and that it was "the worst mistake of (his) life."

We would like to ask Mr. Perkins if Mr. Weyrich, one of the Founding Fathers of the Christian Conservative movement and Reagan Revolution, was wrong, and if he wasn't then how can you continue to refer to the founding father of sodomy-based "marriages" and $50 tax-subsidized elective surgical abortions as a "friend of the pro-family movement?"

Please tell the truth, Mr. Perkins.

If you are attending the Values Voters Summit this weekend or would like more information, please visit www.tonyperkinstellthetruth.blogspot.com. Perhaps you can reach Mr. Perkins and ask him to tell the truth, since we have attempted to do so privately on several occasions over the last several years and all of our pleas to reach our brother in Christ have been ignored.

Brain Dead Celebrities Pledge Service to Obama

I pledge never to spend a dime in support of these airheads.

Anger in Europe as Obama 'Scraps Missile Defence Shield'

Reports that US President Barack Obama is to scrap plans to deploy a missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic have provoked anger in Europe.

From The Telegraph

The Wall Street Journal reported that the US is to shelve the plan, which was first mooted by the Bush administration and has been a source of friction with Russia ever since.

The move would be a cause of celebration in Moscow but of real concern to Eastern European countries which have looked to Washington for support against their former imperial master Russia. The US has said the shield is to guard against attacks by rogue states, such as Iran.

The former Czech prime minister, Mirek Topolanek, said: "This is not good news for the Czech state, for Czech freedom and independence. It puts us in a position wherein we are not firmly anchored in terms of partnership, security and alliance, and that's a certain threat."

The Polish deputy foreign minister, Andrzej Kremer, said that Warsaw had heard from different sources there were "serious chances" the anti-missile system would not be deployed.

Russian officials said they did not want to immediately comment on media reports that cited unidentified US officials.

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Priest/Editor of Kennedy's Diocesan Paper: Scandal of Kennedy Funeral "Totally Avoidable"

"The lesson is that the "education-only" strategy employed by most pastors has "failed."

From LifeSiteNews
By John-Henry Westen

Father Roger J. Landry, editor at The Anchor, the official newspaper of the Diocese of Fall River (the diocese where the late Senator Edward Kennedy resided), has written extensively on the passing of Senator Kennedy and his funeral. Fr. Landry himself was ordained by Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the presider at Kennedy's funeral.

In his latest column, to be published in the September 18 edition of The Anchor, Fr. Landry writes that the funeral with all of its extravagances created a "controversy that was totally avoidable."

"The overall tone of the funeral liturgy - from the three eulogies, to the prayers of the faithful, to the homily, to the celebrity musicians, to the guest list, and to the nationally-televised gushing color commentaries - seemed to communicate that it was more a public, political apotheosis of Senator Kennedy than a humble, insistent prayer of the Church his mother for the forgiveness of his sins and the repose of his soul," writes Fr. Landry.

"This last controversy was totally avoidable; all that was necessary was to adhere to the letter and spirit of the Catholic funeral rite."

Fr. Landry also reflects in detail on "one of the most important lessons that pastors in the United States need to draw from the history of the Church's interactions with Senator Kennedy for its future engagement of other pro-abortion Catholic politicians." The lesson is that the "education-only" strategy employed by most pastors has "failed."

"Kennedy's example was so injurious to the Church," said Fr. Landry, "because the pastors of the Church, for the most part, made the imprudent call to do little or nothing about it beyond general teaching statements that they hoped offending politicians would apply to themselves."

He added: "There were no real consequences, and as a result, Senator Kennedy, scores of other Catholic politicians, and millions of American Catholic lay people concluded that the Church's teachings in defense of human life cannot be that important if those who publicly and repeatedly act in violation of it do so with impunity."

In another editorial on the subject, Fr. Landry stressed the point. "To say that (the education-only approach) hasn't succeeded, however, is really not strong enough."

He names nineteen Catholic pro-abortion politicians, "to name just a handful," and asks if the strategy has worked with any one of them. "Over the last three and a half decades, can we point to even one success story?" he asks.

He questions further: "Even if they haven't experienced a total conversion, have they moved closer toward limiting abortions or toward making abortions easier to access?"

Using examples from the past, Landry observes, "The facts show that the vast majority of personally opposed, publicly pro-choice Catholic legislators have become far less personally opposed and far more publicly in favor over the duration of the strategy."

Fr. Landry observes: "Even though the U.S. bishops have taught with one voice that pro-choice Catholic legislators should not present themselves to receive Holy Communion, if they pay no heed to that teaching and present themselves anyway, they have observed that in practice they will almost never be denied."

"With Senator Kennedy's funeral, they have now grasped that even a 100% pro-abortion voting record will not only not prevent them from having a Catholic funeral, but will not even stop them from receiving possibly one of the most publicly panegyrical Catholic funerals in U.S. history. "

Fr. Landry's conclusion applies the teaching of Christ to the matter, showing that pastoral concern includes discipline for the good of the sinner:

"Jesus spoke of a different way in the Gospel (Mt 18:15-18). It involves not merely general educational statements that we hope offenders will apply to themselves in conscience, but the type of one-on-one instruction traditionally called fraternal correction. If that fails, and fails repeatedly, Jesus enjoined us to regard the offender as someone who no longer belongs to the community, who is no longer a member in good standing.

"This may seem harsh, but we should remember that Jesus always seeks nothing but the best for his Church and for individual sinners, even obstinate sinners. Implied in Jesus' strategy is that education involves not just information, but formation, and that you can't form disciples without discipline. This is a lesson that, after four decades of the undeniable failure of another approach, we need to consider anew."

Undercover Videos May Be Costly for ACORN

From OneNewsNow
By Chad Groening and Jim Brown

Republican lawmakers on Capitol Hill are pleased the Senate has voted overwhelmingly to cut off federal funding to ACORN, in light of the ongoing investigations of voter registration fraud involving that organization.

The vote was 83-to-7 (see roll call) to pass an amendment to block the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now from receiving federal funds for housing programs. Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), who has been battling for accountability from the organization, says it is already under investigation in more than a dozen states for alleged voter fraud, the result of widespread allegations during the 2008 presidential campaign. He welcomes the Senate vote and hopes the House will follow suit.

"I sat down and wrote a personal note to Senator Mike Johanns [R-Nebraska] for offering that amendment to cut off any funding through ACORN housing that was in the bill that was before the Senate," he explains. "It will come back here to the House. And don't know if we'll get a clear up-and-down vote on it, but we'll get to vote on a bill with that language in it -- and that is a good step."

The congressman says the recent undercover video shot at the ACORN office in Baltimore by two people posing as a pimp and prostitute demonstrates the absolute willingness of ACORN to facilitate criminal activities. The two were given advice by an ACORN representative on purchasing a house and lying on tax forms for the woman's income.

"It looks like the culture of ACORN is such that if you walk in there with an illegal enterprise in mind, they're going to help you engage in it," says King. "Let me give credit to the young man and young lady who went into ACORN to film this. If they had not taken that initiative on their own, then none of this would have happened."

King believes the Senate vote indicates that the tide may be turning against ACORN.

According to The Associated Press, two other undercover videos depict similar situations in ACORN offices in Brooklyn and Washington, DC. And Fox News is reporting today that a fourth video shows a staffer at ACORN's office in San Bernardino giving advice to a couple -- the woman again posing as a prostitute -- on how to avoid detection by law enforcement. ACORN has received $53 million in taxpayer funds since 1994.

ACORN didn't bat an eye

Senator Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), who voted for the amendment, says the vote to cut off federal funding to ACORN is a win for taxpayers who do not want their hard-earned money funneled to organizations who have no respect for the rule of law. (Listen to audio)

"We've tried this in the past, [in] both the House and Senate, and we haven't been quite so successful," he admits. "But in the past we didn't have the videotape, which just screamed out about the tax evasion that they were scheming [along] with the criminal activity including prostitution, the human trafficking.

"Every time the person doing the investigation ratcheted up the criminality that he was supposedly proposing, the ACORN employee didn't bat an eye," the senator remarks. "They had an answer for everything."

Wicker says as more and more Americans realize what ACORN is up to, more and more Americans are demanding that Congress not appropriate anymore money for this organization.

'It makes no sense'

Meanwhile, a Pennsylvania pro-family group is expressing outrage over Senator Bob Casey's vote to continue the ACORN funding.

Senator Casey (D- Pennsylvania) was one of just seven senators who voted against the amendment that would deny housing and community grant funding to ACORN. The other six who joined Casey in voting to continue funding ACORN were Dick Durbin and Roland Burris of Illinois, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Patrick Leahy and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island. With the exception of Sanders, who is an Independent, all are Democrats.

Diane Gramley, president of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania, says she cannot understand why Casey backed ACORN, especially given the fact that seven ACORN workers in Pittsburgh were charged earlier this year with submitting bogus voter registrations. (Listen to audio)

"It makes no sense," she exclaims. "It makes no sense why senators are willing to ignore the corrupt nature of this organization to vote to give them more [of] our tax dollars. It's just very concerning that he and the other senators who voted to continue the funding would just totally ignore the situation."

Although Senator Casey has not offered an explanation for his vote, Gramley speculates he may have been worried that he would lose votes in Philadelphia if he helped cut funding to ACORN.

New ObamACORN Scandal Footage: San Bernardino

President Calls Rapper a "Jackass"

In our view there are pimps and drug hustlers on the streets of Chicago who would make a better President than the thug that corrupt machine produced for the job. The President makes our point on a daily basis.

At one time America was outraged when the President of the United States strongly defended his own daughter when she received a harsh review from a Washington music critic. Now we have a President who calls police in Boston "stupid" for doing their duty, and involves himself in People Magazine stories involving a drugs and alcohol fueled rapper. Here is what passes for "Presidential" in this administration.

SCHLAFLY: Fumbling Jobs Issue Will Lose Reagan Democrats

From The Washington Times
Commentary By Phyllis Schlafly

Conservatives bounced back strong after the elections of Lyndon Johnson, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, and we'll do likewise again in 2010. The Gallup Poll just reported that self-identified conservatives outnumber self-identified liberals in all 50 states, and the trend is up. President Obama is aiding our task of reinvigorating conservatives.

A speech Ronald Reagan gave in 1975 to the Conservative Political Action Conference contains a message worth repeating:

"I am impatient with those Republicans who after the last election rushed into print saying, 'We must broaden the base of our party' - when what they meant was to fuzz up and blur even more the differences between ourselves and our opponents ...," he said.

"Our people look for a cause to believe in ... raising a banner of no pale pastels, but bold colors which make it unmistakably clear where we stand on all of the issues troubling the people. ... Let us explore ways to ward off socialism. ... A political party ... must represent certain fundamental beliefs which must not be compromised to political expediency," Mr. Reagan said.

Here is our banner of bold colors:

1. Restore fiscal responsibility. Conservatives must call a halt to Mr. Obama's reckless borrowing and spending. This means defeating the wildly extravagant health care bill and the cap-and-trade bill, which should be called cap-and-tax.

2. Stand tall for American sovereignty. This means rejecting all United Nations treaties including the U.N. Law of the Sea Treaty, the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the U.N. Treaty on Women. They all invade our sovereignty by creating committees of hostile foreign bureaucrats to monitor our compliance.

Standing for American sovereignty also means repudiating all devious ways of erasing our borders by deceitful code words such as "economic integration," "labor mobility," "North American Union," or "Free Trade Area of the Americas."

3. Make foreign and military policies serve the national security of the United States. George Washington's advice to be "at all times ready for war" means, at long last, deploying an anti-missile defense that can protect our people from attack by rogue nations. As Margaret Thatcher reminded us, Mr. Reagan won the Cold War without firing a shot.

4. We must recapture the three important voting blocs that abandoned conservative candidates in 2008: Reagan Democrats, unmarried women, and young people.

We lost the Reagan Democrats by fumbling the jobs issue. Millions of well-paying blue-collar jobs have gone overseas where workers are paid only 30 cents an hour. We must make clear that conservatives stand for maintaining middle-class jobs that support a family. We must rewrite the unfair trade agreements that allow foreign countries to pretend to reduce their barriers against our products but substitute an equivalent border tax called the VAT (Value Added Tax) that discriminates against U.S. products. Conservatives must reject the trade agreements that allow foreign countries to subsidize their exports by rebating their domestic taxes, while U.S. companies pay very high corporate taxes.

We lost 70 percent of unmarried women because the Democrats are the party of generous handouts to unmarried mothers. Conservatives must stand up for marriage as the basic institution of society and must not allow the liberals to undermine marriage by using taxpayer-financed incentives in the multibillion-dollar welfare, child-support, and domestic-violence agencies to promote divorce, fatherless children, and the matriarchy sought by the feminists. Mothers should look to husbands for financial support, not depend on Big Brother Government to be the provider. The liberals will always be the party of bigger taxpayer handouts.

We lost the majority of young people largely because of what they are taught in the public schools, which 89 percent of kids attend. We must demand that public schools teach respect for patriotism, the Constitution, moral standards, Western civilization instead of multiculturalism (all cultures are equal), diversity (all behaviors are OK), and "social justice" (the false notion that students are victims of an unjust, oppressive and racist America, which makes them ripe targets for community organizers to mobilize them to vote for socialist candidates). The National Association of Scholars defines "social justice" as "the advocacy of more egalitarian access to income through state-sponsored redistribution." That is academic verbiage for Mr. Obama's pledge to "spread the wealth around," which sums up his current policies.

If conservatives deal with these challenges, they can be the Comeback Kids in 2010.

Phyllis Schlafly is a founder of the modern conservative movement in the United States and has been a national leader on a panoply of national and foreign-policy issues.

Top 10 Books Every College Student Should Read

From Human Events
By Harry W. Crocker III


1. The Bible You can’t be considered a literate person without having read the most important book in the history of Western Civilization.

2. Caesar’s Commentaries I think it was Will Durant who said that Western Civilization is Caesar and Christ. So, as with the Bible, you might as well go to the source.

3. Machiavelli, Discourses on Livy (or Montesquieu’s harder to find
Considerations on the Greatness of the Romans and Their Decline) As we all know, empires and republics can decline and fall. Machiavelli wanted to learn from the history of Rome how to preserve a republic -- and so should we.

4. Edward Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Not a conservative book (though Gibbon was something of a conservative Whig) but a great one: History is the most important subject.

5. Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France All conservatives pay lip-service to this classic, not enough have actually read it. That’s a shame because it is memorably, beautifully written and provides a necessary check on the unreflecting populism of some conservatives.

6. James Boswell, The Life of Johnson Dr. Johnson reminds us that the first Whig (liberal) was the devil and that a truly conservative approach to politics is anti-ideological, anti-statist, and anti-political: “How small of all that human hearts endure that part which laws or kings can cause or cure.”

7. Russell Kirk, The Conservative Mind College students who declare themselves conservatives should read Kirk so they’ll know something of what they’re declaring.

8. Shakespeare, Henry V All college students are potential leaders; here’s Shakespeare on leadership.

9. Siegfried Sassoon, The Complete Memoirs of George Sherston Part of the impoverishment of the conservative mind these days is that it has no idea what it wants to conserve (or restore) in large part because so many conservatives don’t bother to cultivate a conservative imagination by reading novels. Sassoon didn’t become a political conservative (and a Catholic convert) until later life, but this brilliant, evocative, gentlemanly book shows a conservative society (which he loved) that produced a generation of heroes, like the author himself, a veteran of the Great War.

10. George Orwell, Collected Journalism Orwell was another professed Socialist who was in many ways conservative. For a college student, he’s a great tutor on how to write and how to recognize (and avoid) the politicization of language, an area where many political conservatives seem utterly tone deaf as “gender” replaces “sex,” “abstinence” replaces “chastity,” and “perception” becomes relative rather than acute. All of this is freighted with politics, which the left understands but our own folks don’t.

Mr. Crocker is the author most recently of The Politically Incorrect Guide to the Civil War.

Is Catholic-Orthodox Unity in Sight?

From National Catholic Register
By Edward Pentin

The Catholic Archbishop of Moscow has given a remarkably upbeat assessment of relations with the Orthodox Church, saying unity between Catholics and Orthodox could be achieved “within a few months.”

In an interview today in Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper, Archbishop Paolo Pezzi said the miracle of reunification “is possible, indeed it has never been so close.” The archbishop added that Catholic-Orthodox reunification, the end of the historic schism that has divided them for a millennium, and spiritual communion between the two churches “could happen soon, also within a few months.”

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African Kin Seek Obama's Help

Brother's Keeper? Still Not a Dollar for the Brother in the Hut.

From The Boston Globe
By Farah Stockman

After Barack Obama was elected to the US Senate in 2004, a delegation from the remote African village where his father was raised journeyed to Washington, seeking financial help. But Obama offered them advice, not money.

Now that Obama has moved to the White House, expectations of financial benefit have grown even greater in this tiny hamlet where water is still delivered to thatched huts on the backs of donkeys.

“There are still those who are waiting for him to send millions,’’ said Nicholas Rajula, a Kogelo businessman.

Dreams alone seem to be sustaining those counting on an economic boom in this rural corner of western Kenya, near Lake Victoria, where the American president’s father - also named Barack Obama - grew up and where many of his relatives remain.

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Freemasons Await Dan Brown Novel `The Lost Symbol'

By Hillel Italie, AP National Writer

The lodge room of the Naval Masonic Hall is a colorful and somewhat inscrutable sight for the nonmember, with its blue walls, Egyptian symbols, checkered floor in the center and high ceiling painted with gold stars.

Countless secrets supposedly have been shared in this and thousands of similar rooms around the world. Facts of life have been debated, honors bestowed, rituals enacted. You would need to belong to a lodge to learn what really goes on.

Or you could simply ask.

"The emphasis on secrecy is something that disturbs people," says Joseph Crociata, a burly, deep-voiced man who is a trial attorney by profession but otherwise a Junior Grand Warden at the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of the District of Columbia.

"But it's not a problem getting Masons to talk about Masonry. Sometimes, it's a problem getting them to stop."

Countless books and Web sites are dedicated to Freemasons, yet the Masonic Order has been defined by mystery, alluring enough to claim Mozart and George Washington as members, dark enough to be feared by the Vatican, Islamic officials, Nazis and Communists. In the United States, candidates in the 19th-century ran for office on anti-Mason platforms and John Quincy Adams declared that "Masonry ought forever to be abolished."

And now arrives Dan Brown.

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Obama Is Pushing Israel Toward War

President Obama can't outsource matters of war and peace to another state.

From The Wall Street Journal
Commentary By Bret Stephens

Events are fast pushing Israel toward a pre-emptive military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, probably by next spring. That strike could well fail. Or it could succeed at the price of oil at $300 a barrel, a Middle East war, and American servicemen caught in between. So why is the Obama administration doing everything it can to speed the war process along?

At July's G-8 summit in Italy, Iran was given a September deadline to start negotiations over its nuclear programs. Last week, Iran gave its answer: No.

Instead, what Tehran offered was a five-page document that was the diplomatic equivalent of a giant kiss-off. It begins by lamenting the "ungodly ways of thinking prevailing in global relations" and proceeds to offer comprehensive talks on a variety of subjects: democracy, human rights, disarmament, terrorism, "respect for the rights of nations," and other areas where Iran is a paragon. Conspicuously absent from the document is any mention of Iran's nuclear program, now at the so-called breakout point, which both Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his boss Ali Khamenei insist is not up for discussion.

What's an American president to do in the face of this nonstarter of a document? What else, but pretend it isn't a nonstarter. Talks begin Oct. 1.

All this only helps persuade Israel's skittish leadership that when President Obama calls a nuclear-armed Iran "unacceptable," he means it approximately in the same way a parent does when fecklessly reprimanding his misbehaving teenager. That impression is strengthened by Mr. Obama's decision to drop Iran from the agenda when he chairs a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Sept. 24; by Defense Secretary Robert Gates publicly opposing military strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities; and by Russia's announcement that it will not support any further sanctions on Iran.

In sum, the conclusion among Israelis is that the Obama administration won't lift a finger to stop Iran, much less will the "international community." So Israel has pursued a different strategy, in effect seeking to goad the U.S. into stopping, or at least delaying, an Israeli attack by imposing stiff sanctions and perhaps even launching military strikes of its own.

Thus, unlike Israel's air strike against Iraq's reactor in 1981 or Syria's in 2007, both of which were planned in the utmost secrecy, the Israelis have gone out of their way to advertise their fears, purposes and capabilities. They have sent warships through the Suez Canal in broad daylight and conducted widely publicized air-combat exercises at long range. They have also been unusually forthcoming in their briefings with reporters, expressing confidence at every turn that Israel can get the job done.

The problem, however, is that the administration isn't taking the bait, and one has to wonder why. Perhaps it thinks its diplomacy will work, or that it has the luxury of time, or that it can talk the Israelis out of attacking. Alternatively, it might actually want Israel to attack without inviting the perception that it has colluded with it. Or maybe it isn't really paying attention.

But Israel is paying attention. And the longer the U.S. delays playing hardball with Iran, the sooner Israel is likely to strike. A report published today by the Bipartisan Policy Center, and signed by Democrat Chuck Robb, Republican Dan Coats, and retired Gen. Charles Ward, notes that by next year Iran will "be able to produce a weapon's worth of highly enriched uranium . . . in less than two months." No less critical in determining Israel's timetable is the anticipated delivery to Iran of Russian S-300 anti-aircraft batteries: Israel will almost certainly strike before those deliveries are made, no matter whether an Iranian bomb is two months or two years away.

Such a strike may well be in Israel's best interests, though that depends entirely on whether the strike succeeds. It is certainly in America's supreme interest that Iran not acquire a genuine nuclear capability, whether of the actual or break-out variety. That goes also for the Middle East generally, which doesn't need the nuclear arms race an Iranian capability would inevitably provoke.

Then again, it is not in the U.S. interest that Israel be the instrument of Iran's disarmament. For starters, its ability to do so is iffy: Israeli strategists are quietly putting it about that even a successful attack may have to be repeated a few years down the road as Iran reconstitutes its capacity. For another thing, Iran could respond to such a strike not only against Israel itself, but also U.S targets in Iraq and the Persian Gulf.

But most importantly, it is an abdication of a superpower's responsibility to outsource matters of war and peace to another state, however closely allied. President Obama has now ceded the driver's seat on Iran policy to Prime Minister Netanyahu. He would do better to take the wheel again, keeping in mind that Iran is beyond the reach of his eloquence, and keeping in mind, too, that very useful Roman adage, Si vis pacem, para bellum.

Ancient Synagogue’s Remains Unearthed in Magdala; Jesus May Have Preached There

From Catholic World News

Remains of the ancient synaogogue of Migdal (Magdala), the birthplace of St. Mary Magdalene, have been unearthed. “It is possible that Jesus had preached in this synagogue since Migdal was an important Jewish city at the time,” the excavations director noted.

Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.

• Artifacts Dating to Time of Jesus Found (Vatican Radio)
• Remains of Jesus-era synagogue found in Israel (AFP)

GOP's Wilson Faces Rebuke Tuesday from House Dems

From WTOP.com
By Ben Evans, Associated Press Writer

Barring a last-minute apology to Congress, Republican Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina faces what is likely to be a partisan vote scolding him for shouting "You lie!" at President Barack Obama.

Democratic aides said House leaders were preparing to introduce a resolution of disapproval Tuesday afternoon, with a vote likely later in the day.

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From Our Mail: Newman Society's Free Online Guide to Catholic Colleges

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

If the Notre Dame scandal demonstrated that too many Catholic colleges do not fully embrace their mission as Catholic institutions, the colleges recommended in The Newman Guide are faith-filled examples of how a contemporary college can provide a quality education while remaining vibrantly Catholic.

Below I have included for you breaking information on today’s release of the new, second edition of this one-of-a-kind Guide for Catholic families.

For the first time we have made the entire contents of The Newman Guide available as a free online resource in addition to a handsome printed book (for purchase).

Just as Catholic families need these Newman Guide colleges, the colleges need your support and encouragement! Please help spread the word the about these terrific Catholic colleges by forwarding this message to friends and family.

May God bless you!

Yours in Christ,

Patrick J. Reilly

President

New Guide Recommends Faithful Catholic Colleges

Entire Contents of Guide Available as a Free Online Resource for Catholic Families

Manassas, Va.—Today The Cardinal Newman Society published a new, second edition of The Newman Guide to Choosing a Catholic College, a unique resource for parents and students seeking a faithful Catholic education.

This comprehensive Guide recommends 21 colleges and universities in the United States plus eight international, online and unique programs based on the strength of their Catholic identity. In addition, the Guide includes several essays to help families better understand the search for a strong Catholic college.

The culmination of four years of research and hundreds of interviews, this edition of The Newman Guide builds substantially on the successful first edition which was published on All Saints Day in 2007. All told more than 8,000 copies of that edition were distributed to Catholic leaders and families.

“When we published the original Newman Guide in 2007 we did not know what to expect, but we found that families were eagerly searching for help in identifying Catholic colleges that truly embrace their Catholic mission in all facets of campus life,” said Patrick J. Reilly, President of The Cardinal Newman Society and one of the editors of the second edition of the Guide.

“The mission of The Cardinal Newman Society is to help renew Catholic higher education, and we can think of no better way to do that than by offering this edition of The Newman Guide as a book but also as a free online resource. We are doing this so that as many Catholic families as possible are able to learn about the quality academics and faithful campus life available at the recommended colleges,” said Reilly.

Every college or program recommended in the Guide includes a complete profile that examines academics, governance, spiritual life, student activities, and residence life. New additions to this edition’s profiles are a letter to families from each college president as well as information on financial aid packages.

The online version of the college profiles include additional campus pictures and videos, open house and other event details, as well as a form to request admissions or financial aid information directly from the college.

The recommended Catholic colleges are:

§ Aquinas College, Nashville, Tenn.

§ Ave Maria University, Ave Maria, Fla.

§ Belmont Abbey College, Belmont, N.C.

§ Benedictine College, Atchison, Kan.

§ The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C.

§ Christendom College, Front Royal, Va.

§ The College of Saint Thomas More, Fort Worth, Tex.

§ DeSales University, Center Valley, Pa.

§ Franciscan University of Steubenville, Steubenville, Oh.

§ Holy Apostles College & Seminary, Cromwell, Conn.

§ John Paul the Great Catholic University, San Diego, Calif.

§ Magdalen College, Warner, N.H.

§ Mount St. Mary’s University, Emmitsburg, Md.

§ Providence College, Providence, R.I.

§ St. Gregory’s University, Shawnee, Okla.

§ Southern Catholic College, Dawsonville, Ga.

§ Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, Calif.

§ The Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, Merrimack, N.H.

§ University of Dallas, Irving, Tex.

§ University of St. Thomas, Houston, Tex.

§ Wyoming Catholic College, Lander, Wyo.

A new section in this edition of The Newman Guide recommends international, online and unique Catholic colleges and programs to help provide options to families looking for non-traditional ways to obtain a faithful Catholic education.