Armageddon: What the Bible Really Says about the End by Bart D. Ehrman

In his book, Armageddon: What the Bible Really Says about the End , professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina, Bart D. Ehrman puts foward the notion that the New Testament book of Revelation (aka The Book of the Apocalypse) has been misunderstood and misinterpreted in modern times. This misinterpretation has been going on, basically since the early 19th Century. Ehrman describes the book's writer, known as John of Patmos, as a misguided Christian who did not understand the teachings of Jesus Christ as proclaimed in the Gospels.

Not only is the book of Revelation not a prophesy of future events as maintained by many Evangelicals, (and certainly no "rapture") but the vengeful nature of the events - not to mention the glorification of materialism and violent retribution - is in no way Christ-like. Ehrman examines how the Christ of Revelation differs from the Christ of the Gospels. A God of love and mercy versus a God who is cruel and unmerciful.

Ehrman's arguments are compelling. After reading this book, I cannot believe that the Book of Revelation belongs in the Biblical canon.

The Reading List for July, 2024

 

July has come to an end so a list of e books read this month is in order.

First on the list is The Case For God by Karen Armstrong. Like all of Ms. Armstrong's books, this one is well researched. The book covers the history of religion - particularly the three Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam, although she does explore the Eastern, non Abrahamic religions to some degree.

It was by reading Ms. Armstrong's book that I was led to read The Mind's Road to God  by Saint Bonaventure. For the most part, Saint Bonaventure's book went over my head.

I've already reviewed The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (J.K.Rowling) in an earlier blog post. I failed to mention in that review that the protagonist has pretty good taste in music; he listens to Tom Waits and a group called Elbow.

In his translation of Gustav Meyrink's The Golem, Mike Mitchell writes that although Meyrink and Franz Kafka were contemporaries, "In it [The Golem] we have the Castle which is not Kafka's Castle, The Trial which is not Kafka's Trial and a Prague which is not Kafka's Prague". I would add that Meyrink comes across to me as a blend of Kafka and Edgar Allan Poe.

After J.D Vance was chosen as Trump's Vice Presidential running mate, I decided to read Vance's book and watch the movie based on the book. Vance has taken some heat recently, but reading the book has convinced me that Trump made the proper choice in picking J.D. Vance.

On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin become the first human to journey into outer space. He became famous, world wide. He was so famous, in fact, that even a nine year old boy living in Atlanta Georgia knew his name. In Starman: The Truth Behind the Legend of Yuri Gagarin, Jamie Doran & Piers Bizony write not only Gagarin's biography, but they explore the Soviet space program during the 1950s and '60s - it's successes and failures. Originally written in the 1990s, this edition was updated in 2010. I was particularly interested in the controversy surrounding Gagarin's death.

Now, the complete list:

The Case for God             by Karen Armstrong
The Cuckoo's Calling      by Robert Galbraith (J.K.Rowling)
The Mind's Road to God   by Saint Bonaventure
The Golem      by Gustav Meyrink
Hillbilly Elegy    by J. D. Vance
Starman     by Jamie Doran & Piers Bizony

The February, 2024 Reading List

 

The first book on my list of books read in February is The Worlds Religions by Huston Smith. The book was initially based on a class given by Smith at Washington University in St. Louis in 1955. The class attracted the attention of a NET affiliate (the precursor of PBS) who produced a television series based on Smith's class. The series would lead to the development of a book that became the standard textbook for colleges and universities for classes on the World's Religions. .

A book review from 1958 says;
"Because Dr. Huston Smith, Professor of Philosophy at Washington University, St. Louis, has such a high regard for man, he is able to give us a book about man's major religions that an intelligent reader may read, understand and be thankful for. Refusing to be [sic] begged down by the details which so easily and often throw the interested inquirer off the track, he moves rapidly into the meaning these religions carry for the lives of their adherents. In this book, we both [sic] sea and feel why and how they guide and motivate the lives of those who live by them".

I recommend this book to anyone interested in taking a look at religions other than their own.

I wrote of Oyinkan Braithwaite's My Sister, The Serial Killer in an earlier blog post.

Two of the books on this months list - The Wolf Hunt by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen and Budapest Noir by Kondor Vilmos - were introduced to me through recommendations from the Commentary Magazine daily podcast. It's one of my go to podcasts, by the way.

Finally, I wrote a bit about 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami in my last blog post. This "trilogy" has lead me to put more of Murakami's books into the queue, as well as Dickens' Oliver Twist. Of course, another book in Donna Leon's Commissario Guido Brunetti series will be on the list for March.

Now, for the list:

The Worlds Religions             by Huston Smith
My Sister, The Serial Killer   by Oyinkan Braithwaite
The Wolf Hunt             by Ayelet Gundar-Goshen
Budapest Noir             by Kondor Vilmos
1Q84 (books 1,2 & 3)   by Haruki Murakami

The February 2023 Reading List

 

At the beginning of this year, it looked as if 2023 might be the year of mystery/detective novels for me. The eight books in my January, 2023 reading list fall into that category. February looked to be going in the same direction.

The first book on my list for February was A Great Deliverance by Elizabeth George. This was George's first published novel and introduces Detective Inspector Thomas Lynley. The novel won the Agatha Award for Best First Novel in 1988 and the 1989 Anthony Award in the same category.

Staying with the mystery/detective genre, the second novel for February was The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey - a modern police officer's investigation into the alleged crimes of King Richard III of England. In 1990 the book was voted number one in The Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time list compiled by the British Crime Writers' Association. If one enjoys reading books covering history in general and English history in particular then this book is for you. I did enjoy the book, but I thought putting it as #1 on the list of the Top 100 Crime Novels of All Time a bit much.

Books 3 and 4 for February were books 2 and 3 in Stieg Larsson's Millennium series - The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest .

In January, I read Hideo Yokoyama's mystery Six Four. Hideo Yokoyama has two other books translated into English - Seventeen and Prefecture D. I had wrongly assumed that the 2nd and 3rd novels would be mystery novels as well. I haven't gotten around to Prefecture D. yet but - Seventeen is most definitely not a detective story. The novel centers on a newspaper's coverage of the 1985 Japan Airlines flight that crashed into a mountainside in Gunma Prefecture, Japan killing 520 people and leaving only four survivors. An excellent novel, but again, not a detective story.

Since I had strayed away from the mystery genre, I thought I'd end the month with a book that doesn't fit the category, but one I'd been thinking of reading. The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins. This is the first book I've read by Dawkins and I had expected him to be a nasty, cynical S.O.B.. You may or may not agree with Dawkins views on God, but Dawkins is a talented writer and not nearly as obnoxious as I had believed he would be.

The list

A Great Deliverance         by Elizabeth George
The Daughter of Time       by Josephine Tey
The Girl Who Played with Fire     by Stieg Larsson
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest    by Stieg Larsson
Seventeen           by Hideo Yokoyama
The God Delusion    by Richard Dawkins

The Tyranny of Cliches

I've been a fan of Jonah Goldberg for a long, long time. I read the first of his three books, Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, from Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning not long after it was published in 2008. Due to circumstances which I won't go into now, I've only recently downloaded (and read) his book from 2012, The Tyranny of Cliches: How Liberals Cheat in the War of Ideas .

The Tyranny of Cliches is ten years old, so naturally some of what's in the book is dated. In it's overall description of Liberals and Progressives, however, the book is still relevant today.

Of course, there is no mention of Donald Trump, but Goldberg was warning us of the dangers of populism in 2012. Anyone familiar with Jonah Goldberg knows he is no fan of Trump and he's resisted the call to jump on the populist bandwagon that far too many "Conservatives" have climbed aboard in this age of the Donald.

He's one chapter dealing with the question of science. Liberals like to claim that they're the ones who support science while the Conservatives fight against science, tooth and nail. I'll admit that there is a group of Conservatives who believe in a young Earth, with no evolution allowed; with Noah's ark and all the rest. I'm not one of those. As far as Democrats being the party of science, I've addressed that in a blog post - Isn't Biology "Science" Too?. As I wrote in that post:

Far too many folks, who believe themselves to be following the science, seem to ignore the science involving DNA. These people seem to forget "science" when science tells us that the human fetus is, well, a human. A human fetus can only grow to become a fully functioning human. A human fetus cannot magically transform into a dog, or cat, or dolphin or some alien life form. Killing a fetus in the womb is killing a human being. That is an undeniable scientific fact.
The DNA of the fetus also proves that the fetus is a separate and distinct individual and not a body part of the mother. Prematurely removing a fetus from a mother's body, by way of abortion, is not the same as removing an appendix.
While we're on the subject of DNA, examining the DNA shows that human beings come in only one of two genders. An individual's DNA and chromosomal makeup reveals whether the person in question is male or female. No matter how you may feel about whether or not you're in the "right body", your DNA reveals your gender.

Another chapter in Goldberg's book covers another subject which I've written about myself. Liberals and Progressives look down on traditional Christianity, but still looking to be "spiritual", they will claim to be Buddhists or adherents of other Eastern religions. However, in spite of the fact that traditional Buddhism doesn't permit abortion, when the Dalai Lama released his first book in Great Britain, his editors got him to water down his views on abortion so as not to alienate his potential buyers.

I could go on and on, but I'd rather leave the heavy lifting to Jonah Goldberg.It's well worth the read.

The Founding Myth : Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American

The month of June is very nearly half over and so far I've managed to read eight ebooks; four of which were written by atheists :
The Caged Virgin: An Emancipation Proclamation for Women and Islam by Ayaan Hirsi Ali
Mortality by Christopher Hitchens
Einstein's Dreams by Alan Lightman and
The Founding Myth : Why Christian Nationalism Is Un-American by Andrew L Seidel

Ayaan Hirsi Ali's atheism is a reaction to Islam and the horrible treatment of women by her former co-religionists. Atheism isn't obvious in Lightman's novel - I learned of it by reading his wikipedia page. Obviously, Christopher Hitchens wasn't going to turn to religion on his death bed, but his dislike of religion seems slightly less militant in this, his final book. Seidel, on the other hand is the most militant atheist of the four.

In The Founding Myth, Andrew Seidel sets out to prove that, contrary to the beliefs of the Christian Nationalists in the U.S., the United States as brought about by the "founding fathers", is not a Christian nation. I think he's done a remarkably  good job proving that point. The U.S. allows for freedom of religion - you're free to practice, or not practice, any religion, not specifically Christianity. His chapters showing how nearly all the Ten Commandments would be deemed unconstitutional if laws were passed following the 10, is very enlightening. The first commandment requires one to worship a particular God - certainly unconstitutional. Americans cannot be required to "keep the Sabbath". Law makers could not pass laws requiring anyone to honor their parents, and lots of luck arresting folks for committing adultery, to say nothing of trying to outlaw coveting . Of course, the U.S. has laws against murder, theft and perjury, but these "commandments" are not strictly of Judeo-Christian origin. Hindus, Muslims and Buddhists also forbid these acts.

Unfortunately, being a militant atheist, Seidel feels the need to attack Judaism and Christianity far beyond what's necessary to show that the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence are not based on Judeo-Christian values. In his hatred of these two religions, he seems to overlook anything positive. His mocking of a Catholic wedding ceremony shows him to be petty and juvenile. Like most atheists, he does not have a deep understanding of religious thinking. The book would have been much better had Seidel kept to politics and stayed away from theology.

The Autobiograpy of Malcolm X

Before rereading it again this week, it had been over fifty years since I last read The Autobiography of Malcolm X. That was well before Alex Haley became a household name with the publishing of Roots ; I don't recall his name being used as a selling point for the Malcolm X book when I first read it. The edition I have (as mobi) has a lengthy epilogue by Haley. I don't recall the epilogue from my earlier reading, although I do remember other parts of the autobiography reasonably well.

Reading his story, it's certainly understandable that Malcolm Little would become angry at white America at an early age. It is also not surprising that that hatred led him to the Nation of Islam and Elijah Muhammad. Fortunately of Malcom, he left the Nation of Islam and became an orthodox Sunni Muslim. The change in the man, who took the name Malik el-Shabazz, was nothing less than amazing.

Malcolm X had changed following his pilgrimage to Mecca and the Hajj, but sadly, he was assassinated less than one year after his return from Mecca. Most of the video available today of Malcolm X is from before the Hajj, so present day observers of the history of Malcolm X do not see the man he would become.

When I started rereading the autobiography I hadn't realized that today (May 19, 2022) is the 97th anniversary of his birth. While reading the book, I watched a Netfix documentary on Malcolm X and the boxer Muhammad Ali. According to the documentary Ali turned his back on Malcolm when Malcolm X became disillusioned with the Nation of Islam. The documentary goes on to say that in later life after he left the Nation of Islam, Ali regretted his turning away from Malcolm X.

There is also a documentary on Netflix called Who Killed Malcolm X? I've watched one episode of that series. Interesting, but I'm not sure if the entire story will be revealed.

Buddhism and Abortion

 

 

Although I've been studying Buddhism for a good many years, I haven't given much thought to the Buddhist teachings regarding abortion until recently. I had assumed that Buddhists viewed abortion in a way similar to Christians or Hindus. 

While reading about Robert Pirsig (author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance ) I came upon a bit of interesting information regarding Pirsig and abortion.

Not long after the murder of his son from a previous marriage, Pirsig's second wife became pregnant. Pirsig's immediate reaction was to terminate the pregnancy. Coincidentally, this was also the view of his wife. The reasons Pirsig gave for this decision were not those typically used by those in the pro-choice camp when trying to justify an abortion. His wife, Wendy had not become pregnant due to rape or incest. When they came to the decision to abort, it was too early in the pregnancy to know of any potential birth defects. Pirsig does not mention any particular financial reasons.

According to the forward in a later edition of  Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance , Pirsig simply felt that due his being over 50 years old at the time of his wife's pregnancy, he did not want to go through the rigors of bringing up another child. It was case of  "I, me, mine."

Pirsig, and again, coincidentally his wife, later came to change that decision to abort. Pirsig came to believe that the child in his wife's womb was the reincarnation of his murdered son, Chris. Luckily for their daughter Nell, the Pirsigs believed in reincarnation......otherwise she would have been killed in the womb.

After learning of Pirsig's decision, I began to look into the Buddhist teachings on abortion. I sent a message (via Facebook) to Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron asking for an explanation of the Buddhist views on abortion. Thubten Chodron is a Buddhist nun who has co-authored, with the Dalai Lama several books on Buddhism. I was referred to her website, thubtenchodron.org with instructions to type "abortion" into the website's search engine. That resulted in these links:
current-world-scenarios-ethics
ethics-politics

In an interview linked to above, Thubten Chodron says,

"In the US, abortion is actually a more controversial issue. Clearly, Buddhism does not approve of abortion, because it involves taking life. Yet, we can’t be like some conservative people, who are strongly opposed even to contraception, which is another extreme. Personally, I don’t agree with handling the entire matter politically, which has caused a lot of suffering. In cases of unwanted pregnancy, the mother, the father, the baby—everyone involved—needs compassion. Once this becomes a matter of political debate, everyone argues and scolds each other, which only increases the suffering of the people involved. We should give them some personal space to make their choice." 

 "I would encourage the pregnant person to give birth to the child, and then afterwards give up the child for adoption, but that is my personal view. My little sister is adopted. I love her very much and I am so happy that her birth mother gave her for adoption, so that she became part of our family."

In the video linked to, Thubten Chodron says that the First Buddhist Precept tells us to abstain from taking life. She goes on to say that Buddhism teaches that, due to the process of rebirth, the fetus obtains consciousness upon conception and is thereby viewed as a human being. Consequently, abortion isn't acceptable in Buddhism.

In his books, Buddhism and Abortion and Buddhist Ethics: A Very Short Introduction , Damien Keown explains that within the traditional teachings of Buddhism there is no question but that abortion is not permitted - not only going against the First Precept, but very often other Precepts are broken as well:
Five Basic Precepts
1) abstain from taking life
2) abstain from taking what is not given
3) abstain from sensuous misconduct
4) abstain from false speech
5) abstain from intoxicants as tending to cloud the mind

Keown also notes that in spite of abortion being against traditional Buddhist teaching, the abortion rates in Buddhist countries are considerably higher than in most non-Buddhist countries. In Thailand, where a more traditional, conservative form of Buddhism is practiced, abortion is illegal, but the laws are not enforced. The abortion rate is very high, particularly among married women, who at the time of the book's writing, used abortion as the primary form of birth control. Ironically, he notes that the abortion rates among pregnant prostitutes in that country are very low; the difference being due to the belief that their being women (and prostitutes) is due to previous bad karma and the birth of a child - particularly a son - is a way for them to acquire merit.

Buddhists in the West tend to be "pro-choice". Western Buddhists are usually more Liberal than Christians. Some observers see the Western Buddhist's views on abortion to be more "Liberalism covered in Buddhist garments" rather than authentic Buddhism.

In Japan, the view among Buddhists is similar to the Western view, although Japanese Buddhists, unlike their Western counterparts, acknowledge that the unborn child is fully human. Some Japanese Buddhists attempt to deal with the contradiction by participating in a ritual known as Mizuko kuyō. Reasons for the performance of these rites can include parental grief, desire to comfort the soul of the fetus, guilt for an abortion, or even fear of retribution from a vengeful ghost.

It would appear, that when it comes to living up to their religious beliefs, Buddhists can be as hypocritical as members of other religious groups.

There is A God - Antony Flew

In his book, Is Atheism Dead? , Eric Metaxas frequently references Antony Flew and his book, There is a God. The two had come to much the same conclusion regarding the existence of God, although Flew was less inclined to accept Christianity. Both men had followed the evidence, but Flew did not believe that there was evidence of Christ's divinity.

Flew had been known as a strong advocate of atheism. He shocked his fellow atheists in 2004 when he changed his position regarding the existence of an Intelligent Creator of the universe.

In their books, Metaxas and Flew present compelling evidence for a Creator......a source of creative intelligence, if you will, but the evidence could just as easily lead one to Judaism, Islam or Christianity, not to mention a Creator who has not given humanity any sort of divine revelation. (The book is even available at a website called http://islamicblessings.com). In spite of his not embracing Christianity, he did include an appendix written by theologian and Anglican bishop N.T. Wright which Flew said was the best evidence he had seen regarding the divinity of Jesus.

A Few Thoughts on "12 Rules For Life".

I can't recall exactly when I became aware of Dr. Jordan Peterson, though I'm reasonably sure it was via one of his Youtube videos. I was immediately impressed with his anti-Leftist views and his stance against the "politically correct" culture and identity politics that is taking over Western society.

I would later come to appreciate his Biblical lectures and his talks on ethics, psychology and personal responsibility. His thoughts on Christianity, Taoism, Buddhism and evolution were a big draw as well. From his Youtube lectures, I went on to listen to his podcasts, available on his website and on Spotify.

I had been wanting to read his book, 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos for a long time, but due to problems with my Amazon account, I was only recently able to download a copy.

I'm fast approaching 70, but I'm still a work in progress. I've learned quite a bit from his "12 rules" and if I had a time machine, I would take a copy of this remarkable book back to an earlier me. I'd be much better off today (provided, of course that I could convince the earlier me to read it).

Like myself, Dr. Peterson has a love for the works of Fyodor Dostoevsky and he references three of Dostoevsky's novels in this book - Crime and Punishment ,The Brothers Karamazov and Notes from Underground . In addition to Dostoevsky, Dr. Peterson mentions a number of novels to help explain his ideas - Lord of the Flies by William Golding, The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang, Orphan X by Gregg Hurwitz and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's The Gulag Archipelago . I've read the above mentioned novels by Dostoevsky, although the three could do for a re-read in 2022. I read Lord of the Flies as a teenager and it's due for a re-read as well. It's going into the queue, as are the books by Chang, Hurwitz and Solzhenitsyn.

Belief

I recently came upon a photo of a couple holding a sign on which their beliefs were listed. The couple were participating in some sort of outdoor event, which I'm guessing may have had some political agenda.

The sign was basically a laundry list of bumper sticker slogans; the entire list could be classified as an Internet meme. The list of their beliefs is as follows:
Black Lives Matter
No Human is illegal
Love is love
Women's Rights Are Human Rights
Science is Real
Water is Life
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere

I felt I might address each of these slogans with my own interpretation of the sentiments behind each individual slogan.

Black Lives Matter
I've come to find this a troubling slogan. Of course, Black lives matter, but so do the lives of every single human individual regardless of race, ethnicity or skin color. I don't particularly like the idea of segregating the different "lives that matter" into separate groups. In the WOKE culture, one is now considered racist if you believe that All Lives Matter.

No Human is illegal
The implication of this slogan is that the term "illegal alien" is no longer appropriate. In the wider sense, it suggests that borders should be eliminated. Being the husband of a woman that immigrated to the United States, I have sympathy for anyone wanting to come to the United States for a better life, but I'm also aware that unlimited migration into any country isn't workable. It certainly isn't "fair" that people that can walk into the U.S. from their country should take precedent over people from Asia, Europe or Africa who have no choice but to enter the country legally. I know quite a few Filipinos who would come to the United States today if it weren't for the visa requirements.

Love is love
I've come to see this slogan as support for same-sex marriage. In my opinion, the Government should remove itself from the issue of marriage. I see marriage as essentially a religious ceremony...I don't quite see the reasoning behind pledging your love for someone before a government official. When a couple choose to marry, the couple should present themselves to their religious advisor - priest, pastor, rabbi, qazi or madhun. If your religion sanctions same-sex marriage, then no outsider should have a say in the matter. However, there are many religious groups which are opposed to same-sex marriage, and their believers should not be forced to participate or sanction a ceremony that goes against their religion .

Women's Rights Are Human Rights
If by "Women's Rights" one means actual "Women's Rights", then there is no question that those Rights should be supported. However, if by "Women's Rights" you mean "abortion rights" then you've lost me. I have to go back to an earlier statement that All Lives Matter. An unborn human fetus is a human being that is entitled to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Jumping ahead to the next slogan, it's clear that the human fetus has it's own unique DNA and is a separate individual from the mother.

Science is real
Yes, science is real, but unfortunately scientific beliefs are political. I know certain Liberal leaning folks who believe the science if the science supports their views on climate change or COVID, but who ignore the science when it supports Conservative ideas on sex and biology.
Likewise, I know quite a few Right-leaning folks who might embrace the science when it supports their Right to Life beliefs, but are reluctant to follow the science when it contradicts their particular interpretation of the Bible.

Water is Life
Honestly, I don't know anyone who against clean water.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere
It's hard to argue against that point from a humanitarian viewpoint. But, I wonder if those holding a sign advocating that principle are willing to do whatever it takes to eliminate injustice around the world. Are they willing to boycott every nation that doesn't live up to their standards of justice? Are they willing to send combat troops to countries which do not hold the same values on Human Rights?

Unfortunately, my entire belief system can't be explained in a single blog post, and it certainly can't be summarized on one sign.

Catholic Church Statement on Freemasonry

I recently found myself involved in a bit of a kerfuffle on Facebook......hard to imagine, right?

There was some discussion of a 18 story tower that is being constructed in Quezon Park in Dumaguete. The person who started the discussion was against the tower for aesthetic reasons ; the tower would overwhelm every structure and landmark in the area. An illustration follows below.

 

With a few exceptions, most commenting (myself included) held a negative view of the proposed tower. My objection comes from the fact that the tower is a "Masonic tower" and thereby shouldn't be constructed in a Catholic community. I wrote:

"The Masons are an anti Catholic group. ...Catholics are forbidden to join the Masons. A Masonic tower is not proper in this Catholic city".

Almost immediately, I was accused of spreading a lie. A man said that the Catholic church allows Catholics to become Freemasons. I knew this man was either misinformed, or lying himself. I took a look at his own Facebook page and it is filled with Masonic symbols. I would not consider him objective.

As proof that the Catholic Church forbids Catholics from joining the Masons, I left a quote, as well as a link to the Vatican websites. The statement on the website reads :

CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH
DECLARATION ON MASONIC ASSOCIATIONS

It has been asked whether there has been any change in the Church’s decision in regard to Masonic associations since the new Code of Canon Law does not mention them expressly, unlike the previous Code.
This Sacred Congregation is in a position to reply that this circumstance in due to an editorial criterion which was followed also in the case of other associations likewise unmentioned inasmuch as they are contained in wider categories.
Therefore the Church’s negative judgment in regard to Masonic association remains unchanged since their principles have always been considered irreconcilable with the doctrine of the Church and therefore membership in them remains forbidden. The faithful who enrol in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion.
It is not within the competence of local ecclesiastical authorities to give a judgment on the nature of Masonic associations which would imply a derogation from what has been decided above, and this in line with the Declaration of this Sacred Congregation issued on 17 February 1981 (cf. AAS 73 1981 pp. 240-241; English language edition of L’Osservatore Romano, 9 March 1981).
In an audience granted to the undersigned Cardinal Prefect, the Supreme Pontiff John Paul II approved and ordered the publication of this Declaration which had been decided in an ordinary meeting of this Sacred Congregation.
Rome, from the Office of the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 26 November 1983.

Joseph Card. RATZINGER
Prefect

+ Fr. Jerome Hamer, O.P.
Titular Archbishop of Lorium
Secretary

Anyone doubting my word on this can check the Vatican website themselves.

The Absolute at Large

Immediately after finishing War with the Newts I started reading another of Karel Čapek's novels,The Absolute at Large.

Written in 1922, the story begins at what was a future date at the time of writing, New Year's Day 1943. An engineer and inventor, Rudy Marek has created a type of reactor which can produce cheap and abundant energy. After placing an ad in a newspaper, Marek is approached by tycoon, G.H.Bondy, head of the Metallo-Electrical Company.

Marek explains to Bondy that one of the main by-products of the production of the energy is the release of the absolute into the environment. The absolute is described as the spiritual essence that permeates all matter and those people exposed to the absolute undergo an over powering religious experience.

According to the wikipedia article on the novel, R. D. Mullen called the novel "one of the genuine masterpieces of SF" and I'm inclined to agree with that assessment. I highly recommend the novel to Sci Fi enthusiasts.

As a side note, a tycoon named G.H.Bondy is also prominent in War with the Newts yet events in the two stories preclude the two G.H.Bondy's from being the same character.

My copy of The Absolute at Large comes from fadedpage.com. A newer translation by David Wyllie can be purchased from amazon.com.

Rush Twists Pope's Words

A recent lede to a story on Rush Limbaugh's website reads:

Environmentalists (Including the Pope!) Praise the Virus for Saving the Planet

In the transcript of Rush's conversation with a caller, he accuses "a bunch of Millennial-aged left-wing know-it-alls" of praising the virus because it is killing people and thereby saving the planet. Limbaugh does not, sadly, provide us any links or names so we can verify this statement.

Rush then goes on to mischaracterize a statement by Pope Francis. This isn't the first time Limbaugh has been critical of the Pope. He goes on to say,

"This is the pope, the Vicar of Christ on Easter weekend. Donald Trump is doing more for Easter celebration than the pope is, for crying out loud."

First of all, this statement did not come from the Pope on Easter weekend. This comes from an interview with Austen Ivereigh of The Tablet. Ivereigh writes that certain questions were submitted to Pope Francis at the end of March, which the Pope answered, in Spanish, before Easter.

In answer to one question, Pope Francis responds,

"There is an expression in Spanish: 'God always forgives, we forgive sometimes, but nature never forgives.' We did not respond to the partial catastrophes. Who now speaks of the fires in Australia, or remembers that 18 months ago a boat could cross the North Pole because the glaciers had all melted? Who speaks now of the floods? I don’t know if these are the revenge of nature, but they are certainly nature’s responses.

There is absolutely nothing in the original interview which would remotely suggest that the Pope is praising the virus for saving the planet.

On the Facebook page where I found a link to Limbaugh's transcript, I read quite a few nasty comments by people who hate Pope Francis. There's a link to NY Post story which I'm sure Rush read, although I question how many of his listeners/readers followed the link.

The NY Post story does provide a link to the original interview in The Tablet which I'm sure Limbaugh did not bother to read.

An Unusual Holy Week

As I mentioned in a post on another blog (No Via Crucis in 2020 ) this has been an unusual Holy Week in Philippines, in general and our community in particular as we try to deal the the covid19 pandemic. In our province, we are under what is being called an Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ). Churches have been closed for several weeks. Holy Week began without distribution of palms on Palm Sunday. No Maunday Thursday observance and of course, no Via Crucis on Good Friday. This was the first Good Friday Via Crucis I've missed since moving to Sibulan.

Coincidentally, even our idea to watch The Passion of the Christ was not quite like we'd planned. We have a copy of the film on DVD which I purchased in the U.S. several years ago. While not exactly a family tradition, we do watch the film on the occasional Good Friday. We wanted to do that this year.

Even after a few moves, I was able to locate the DVD faster than I expected. Around 8:00 PM last night, my wife, my son and myself gathered by the PC to view the film. Unfortunately, the DVD hasn't held up. There's some sort of damage and we were not able to view it.

We still wanted to watch the film and I began looking online for an option. My first choice was a search on Netflix, but the film is not available. Youtube wasn't even an option. The film is under copyright restrictions so Youtube won't allow anyone to upload the film to their website.

Still, we were not completely without options. There is a Russian website (OK RU) which I visit to watch films. Being a Russian site, copyright laws are merely suggestions. The site has quite a few copies of the film. In The Passion of the Christ , the characters speak the languages common to Jerusalem at the time of Christ, so subtitles are important for those of us not fluent in Latin, Hebrew, and Aramaic. We were unable to find a version on OK RU with English subtitles. Arabic - yes, Russian - likewise, but no English. In the end, we choose a version that had no subtitles what so ever. Our family is sufficiently Catholic, however, to understand the story without necessarily understanding the spoken language.