Thursday, June 29, 2017

Presumption of guilt is the antithesis of a liberal society

                In the United States, we have a phrase, "innocent until proven guilty",(See Coffin V. United States, 1895)  this is allegedly one of the foundations of our classical liberal society, though our legal system seems to think otherwise.  The United States is not alone in this, the Universal Declaration of Human rights, article 11 declares: "Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence".  I bring this up, because, it seems, this does not apply to Catholic clergy.  The presumption is (and this is often pushed by the media), "Accused means guilty".  Unfortunately, this pushes public thinking into that, and even when the media does admit the case was dismissed OR the accused is found not guilty or innocent, the damage is already done.  I bring this up because, well, I'm sick of people assuming that accused means guilty.  It does not.  People tend to forget that one important thing about human nature is that money makes the world go 'round.  We're much more content serving mammon than serving God.  There's no chance for a high profile cleric, even if he is found not guilty.  But he most likely won't be.  The media has already made up its mind, and its mind is that he is guilty. 


*When I use the term "liberal" I mean it in the traditional sense on the basis of equality, not the modern political term, which is quite different.

Friday, June 2, 2017

Yes abortion is still the most important issue

 I admit it, I get frustrated with "liberal" Catholics that support gay marriage.  I also get frustrated with Catholics that support unjust wars.  I was going across patheos's Catholic channel (is that what it's called)?  and I saw a blog post that said "abortion is the most important issue, except when it's not" or something to that effect.  See, my grandpa was a three war veteran, and pro-life democrat (God rest his soul, he was very ill-treated by the VA hospital, my mother is actually part of the group that broke open the case on said hospital system, that's a different story) that hated war (as do I), but hated abortion.  Hate is a strong word, and to quote Hank Hill, that's why I used it.  My Protestant Grandpa (who had a Catholic mother, she was an adult convert) influenced a lot of the ways I see the world.  I learned from Grandpa that the world is unfair.  Especially to the elderly.  As cruel as the world is to the elderly, it is even more cruel to the very young.  A mother's womb is where a child is supposed to be the safest.  Yet, we make jokes about abortion.  We treat it like it's not big deal.  We make fun of those who insist it isn't murder.  Ever talk to parents that suffered a miscarriage?  They don't treat losing a baby like it's a joke.  Ever talk to a young mother who lost her only child?  To them, it's not a joke.  I've had discussions with women that have had abortions, and do you know what they tell me?  They were lied to about what abortion is.  I don't know about you, but I think protecting children should be an absolute priority.  I would like to take this time to thank God for giving me a mother that taught me that abortion is murder, and has seen her own dead children.  Oh, and has a background in biology (yes, go ahead and tell my mother that they are not children, be warned, her temper is almost as bad as mine!)  I described myself as "borderline anarchist" (a bit serious, a bit jokingly, my mother said "that's what your dad was"!)  My dad, by the way (and I remember hearing this from my brother), had a bumper sticker on his truck that said "as a former fetus, I oppose abortion".  Think about that next time you write a blog post with an arrogant title.

Thursday, June 1, 2017