Hasan's Punishment.

From Catholic News Service via catholicphilly.com, Archbishop Timothy M. Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services said he opposes capital punishment for Army Maj. Nidal Hasan. Hasan was sentenced to death Aug. 28 following his conviction of the shootings in the 2009 massacre at Fort Hood, Texas.

I happen to agree with  Archbishop Broglio though I know I'm not going to make any friends by writing a post likely to offend so many of my fellow Conservatives.

Be that as it may, from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

2266 The State's effort to contain the spread of behaviors injurious to human rights and the fundamental rules of civil coexistence corresponds to the requirement of watching over the common good. Legitimate public authority has the right and duty to inflict penalties commensurate with the gravity of the crime. the primary scope of the penalty is to redress the disorder caused by the offense. When his punishment is voluntarily accepted by the offender, it takes on the value of expiation. Moreover, punishment, in addition to preserving public order and the safety of persons, has a medicinal scope: as far as possible it should contribute to the correction of the offender.

 2267 The traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude, presupposing full ascertainment of the identity and responsibility of the offender, recourse to the death penalty, when this is the only practicable way to defend the lives of human beings effectively against the aggressor.
"If, instead, bloodless means are sufficient to defend against the aggressor and to protect the safety of persons, public authority should limit itself to such means, because they better correspond to the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person.
"Today, in fact, given the means at the State's disposal to effectively repress crime by rendering inoffensive the one who has committed it, without depriving him definitively of the possibility of redeeming himself, cases of absolute necessity for suppression of the offender 'today ... are very rare, if not practically non-existent.'

One can hardly argue that, in Hasan's case, "absolute necessity for suppression of the offender" would demand the death penalty. Hasan is paralyzed from waist down.

The decision as to whether or not capital punishment is appropriate shouldn't come from a desire to seek revenge. Executing Hasan will not assuage the grief felt by the family and friends of his victims.

I'm not trying to excuse or justify Hasan's actions. He should be punished for his having massacred more than a dozen human beings.  According to Catholic teaching, in this particular situation, Jesus asks that we not execute this killer. Who am I to go against that?

The Obama Flag.

When I first came upon the photo showing Democrats carrying a U.S. flag with Obama's face on it, (thanks to LarryD) the idea came to me that perhaps I could locate one of these flags and burn it.

An online search lead me to ultimateflags.com where you can by the thing for just $24.95.

The description of the flag from the website is as follows:

" This is a US style Flag with President Barack Obama's face on it celebrating his re-election and showing suport for his leadership."

I copied & pasted the description ......yeah, "support" is misspelled.

Before one gets the idea that Ultimate Flags is some crazy Liberal organization, they also sell a Rebel Obama flag.

Not quite sure who'd buy that.

Naturally, the company has a Facebook page where they welcome comments on their handiwork.

Oddly enough, on their Facebook page, I found the following video.




 Anything for money, I suppose.

The Dumbest Thing I've Ever Read on the Internet.

And that's saying a lot.

From The Guardian:  Imagine: Canadian dentist hopes to clone John Lennon using tooth DNA.

"A Canadian dentist is hoping to clone John Lennon using DNA from one of the singer's rotten teeth. Michael Zuk, who bought Lennon's molar at a 2011 auction, has begun sequencing the former Beatle's DNA."

Doesn't Zuk know that John Lennon has reincarnated?

Gov. Christie's Misunderstanding of Catholic Teaching.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie may very well be a Catholic - he says he is and I'll take his word for that. But, one thing is certain. Gov. Christie does not have a thorough understanding of Catholic teaching, particularly when it comes to homosexuality.

From an article in Bloomberg ,
"Christie told CNN’s Piers Morgan in 2011 that while he is Catholic and his church believes homosexuality is a sin, he doesn’t share the view. 'If someone is born that way, it’s very difficult to say then that that’s a sin,' he said, a quotation reproduced in today’s statement".

The inclination to homosexuality - if someone is born that way, to use Christie's words - is not a sin, according to the Catholic Church. It is the acting out of that inclination that is sinful. Just as being born heterosexual in itself isn't sinful, there are a whole lot of heterosexual acts that are.

It is telling, however that Christie calls himself Catholic but has no problem disagreeing with what he believes the Church teaches. He has all the makings of a cafeteria Catholic if ever there was one.

Of course, the writers of the Bloomberg article don't understand Catholicism any better. Referring to a now famous quote of Pope Francis (taken out of context) they write:

"In July, the faith’s leader, Pope Francis, opposed a stance by his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who had written that gays shouldn’t be priests."

Sorry, Elise Young & Stacie Sherman, Pope Francis hasn't "opposed a stance by his predecessor". This has been discussed and explained often, yet those who don't want to understand won't understand.

The Fox News article on Christie signing a bill banning gay conversion therapy didn't get the facts exactly right either.

"In signing the ban, Christie reiterated his belief that people are born gay and homosexuality is not a sin, a position he first stated in a 2011 interview with CNN's Piers Morgan. That view is inconsistent with his Catholic faith, which teaches that homosexual acts are sins".

The Church does teach that homosexual acts are sinful, but the Church also teaches that being born "gay" is not. Is this point too subtle for journalists?

I guess it would be too much to expect reporters to read the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

Then again, I guess that would be asking too much since we can't even get Catholics to read it. 

'Third Gender' Official in Germany.

From Spiegel Online:

The option of selecting "blank", in addition to the standard choices of "male" or female" on birth certificates will become available in Germany from November 1. 

The legislative change allows parents to opt out of determining their baby's gender, thereby allowing those born with characteristics of both sexes to choose whether to become male or female in later life. 

Under the new law, individuals can also opt to remain outside the gender binary altogether.

Let's see how that works out once the Muslims finally take over Germany.