Notes: Thursday, November 18, 2010

1. The latest regarding so-called gay marriage in Australia

1.1 "K[evin] Rudd agreed to back same-sex civil unions at last year's ALP National Conference in a private deal with key Left faction leaders", and, "[a] Sky News poll of 39 Labor MPs yesterday found 22 in support of marriage equality"

(Warning: The following link leads to a web-page with a photo, at the top of the page, of a pair of presumably 'newlywed' Lesbians smooching)
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/gay-marriage-policy-splits-labor/story-e6freuzr-1225954652794

1.2 "Gillard clears way for gay marriage debate"

"JULIA GILLARD has given the green light for Labor's national conference to be brought forward by more than six months so the party can have a full-blown fight over policy differences without hurting its election chances":
http://www.smh.com.au/national/gillard-clears-way-for-gay-marriage-debate-20101117-17xps.html?skin=text-only

"Party may decide on gay marriage, but I choose whether to implement it: Gillard"
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/party-may-decide-on-gay-marriage-but-i-choose-whether-to-implement-it-gillard/story-fn59niix-1225955208166

1.3 Analysis, by Ms Grattan, of the implications of Federal Labor's decision to support the gay-marriage-related motion in Parliament

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/hot-issue-poses-dilemma-for-pm-20101116-17vyl.html?skin=text-only

2. A couple of recent developments regarding Russia

2.1 "Russia plans to move its people to big towns"

http://www.smh.com.au/world/russia-plans-to-move-its-people-to-big-towns-20101117-17xp9.html?skin=text-only

2.2 "Church restitution: Orthodox send threatening response to Mgr. Pezzi"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34733

3. Blog comments by me

At Mr. Schütz's new website: Too many comments, one of which is quite long, to bother reproducing them here, so I'll just give the link to the main thread:

http://scecclesia.com/?p=4569#comments

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of the Dedication of the Basilicas of Sts. Peter and Paul, A.D. 2010

Notes: Friday, October 15, 2010

Queensland couple acquitted of abortion-related charges

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/reform-unlikely-after-abortion-verdict-20101014-16lwm.html?skin=text-only

I was interested, and perplexed, to learn from that article that

In his closing directions, Judge Bill Everson told the jury it needed to be satisfied the drugs Ms Leach had taken were noxious to her own health. This was a significant direction: the drugs needed to be harmful to her, as distinct from the foetus.

I haven't read the text of the relevant section of Queensland's Crimes Act, but I would have thought that if 'procuring one's miscarriage' were a fair description of the crime then the question of whether the drug's direct effect was to harm the mother's health, with miscarriage as an indirect effect, or whether the miscarriage was the direct effect, would be irrelevant. The Australian has more information:

The jurors returned their not-guilty verdict after Cairns District Court judge Bill Everson instructed them that in order to convict 21-year-old Tegan Simone Leach, they had to be satisfied that the drugs she took were harmful or noxious to her own health, rather than the fetus.

[...] In summing up the two-day trial, Judge Everson explained to the jury that Ms Leach could be found guilty regardless of whether she had been pregnant or not when she attempted to procure her own miscarriage.

As a result, he said, the jury must be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the drugs Ms Leach took were noxious to her health, rather than to the health of her unborn child.
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/jury-frees-abortion-couple-in-less-than-an-hour/story-e6frg6nf-1225938906094]

If so, then it would seem that the description of the charges as "procuring an abortion and supplying drugs for the abortion" is inadequate.

Interesting mix of Herald letters on God, miracles, and religion

A better balance than one might have expected. Under the heading "Consensus on divine power would be the miracle":

http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/consensus-on-divine-power-would-be-the-miracle-20101014-16lop.html?skin=text-only

Also interesting was the pair of letters under the heading "An abortion always takes a life".

More from Mr. Hitchens on morality

But [Christopher] Hitchens is weaker on the personal and ethical challenge presented by atheism: of course we can be good without God, but why the hell bother? If there are no moral lines except the ones we draw ourselves, why not draw and redraw them in places most favourable to our interests? Hitchens parries these concerns instead of answering them: since all moral rules have exceptions and complications, he says, all moral choices are relative. Peter Hitchens responds that any journey becomes difficult when a compass points differently at different times.

[...] At the Pew Forum, [Christopher] Hitchens was asked: What positive lesson have you learned from Christianity? He replied, with great earnestness: the transience and ephemeral nature of power and all things human. ...
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/the-courage-of-a-deathbed-atheist/story-e6frg6zo-1225938873174]

"Bugnini: "I am the liturgical reform!""

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=34192
http://wdtprs.com/blog/2010/10/bugnini-i-am-the-liturgical-reform/

I would be interested to obtain and read that book by The Rev. Fr. Anscar Chupungco O.S.B.

(Here's an interesting comment by Dr. Brown talking about what 'I am the liturgical reform' refers to.)

Mr. Rudd still a Catholic?

One of the items in yesterday's edition of CathNews drew from a Sydney Daily Telegraph article on The Hon. Kevin Rudd M.P. and his connection to Bl. Mary of the Cross (née Mary MacKillop). That CathNews article did not mention (understandably, given its desired context) the most interesting thing to be learnt from that Tele article, which I learnt from reading the print edition before reading CathNews: Mr. Rudd still identifies as Catholic:

Mr Rudd, who is Catholic but attends an Anglican Church, also revealed that he carries an image of Australia's first saint in his wallet.

[...] Mr Rudd was raised a Catholic but now attends an Anglican Church with his wife Therese Rein.

His acceptance of communion at Mary MacKillop Chapel last year sparked controversy.

"I certainly grew up as a Catholic, the only reason I go to Anglican Church is because my wife is Anglican," he said.

"For me denominational questions have never been terribly important, so I have maintained close connection with Christians of all sorts of denominational affiliations. The most important thing is whether people are of faith, that they are serious about their faith and what they try to do with their lives.
[http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/specials/mary-mackillop/tea-breaks-with-nuns-takes-rudd-to-vatican/story-fn6qd4pl-1225938398462
That CathNews item linked to the wrong article's web-page.]

Interesting comment by "gpmtrad" at AQ:

St. Ephrem the Syriac, Doctor of the Church, explains that what most provoked God concerning Cain was the latter's indifference to sacrifice.
[italics in the original,
http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=383362#383362]

Reginaldvs Cantvar

Feast of St. Teresa of Avila, Virgin, A.D. 2010

Governor-GeneralWatch: let the games begin

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/a-promise-to-queen-and-country-with-all-her-heart-and-soul/2008/09/05/1220121526673.html

So Her Excellency Ms. Quentin Bryce A.C. has been sworn in as Governor-General. Now I know that an inaugural speech of this sort is an occasion for platitudes, but I have to single out this statement and ask you, my readers, whether this bears any correspondence to reality:

Our growing capacity to balance tradition with renewal is a sure and uplifting sign of our standing as a sophisticated and highly functional civilised society and member of the global community," she said

Meanwhile, it seems that Mr. Rudd has big plans for Ms Bryce:

The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, said Ms Bryce would bring a "very special touch" to the vice-regal office as he hinted she would be given a more prominent public profile than her predecessor. "Your excellency, you will share moments of great triumph with the people of Australia and you will be there in the most difficult of times."
(my emphasis)

Well, I say: bring it on Mr. Rudd. I, for one, will be keeping a close eye on how the final chapter in the story of Australia’s constitutional monarchy is going to unfold.

Reginaldvs Cantvar

Preparing for an activist vice-reign

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24108604-421,00.html

I read with great interest an article in last Friday's Sydney Daily Telegraph by Mr. Steve Lewis (available on-line under the Courier-Mail masthead, link above) about certain changes taking place in the Governor-General's official staff. The Official Secretary, Mr. Malcolm Hazell, despite being regarded as "resolutely non-partisan", was dismissed by the head of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Mr. Rudd denied any involvement, and it is not too great a leap of logic to infer that Ms. Quentin Bryce, the Governor-General-Designate, was behind the sacking.

(And I was amused to note that "More recently, Ms Bryce raised eyebrows after visiting Therese Rein, the wife of Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, at her office in Brisbane last Friday." They would have been two peas in a pod.)

So what does this imply for our expectations about Ms. Bryce as Governor-General? I think we ought to prepare for an activist, 'agenda-setting' viceroy; in particular, the feminist agenda. This demands like-minded, even partisan, assistants, secretaries and speech-writers, hence Mr. Hazell's dismissal, and no doubt he will only be the first. Her Excellency's greatest pre-gubernatorial distinction appears to have been becoming one of Australia's top-ranking political correctness commissars ('Federal Sex Discrimination Commissioner' or some such high-sounding but mediocre office) and is well-known as a member (one of the first, in fact) of the genteel, pearl-necklace-wearing wing of feminism that has been so influential in the corporate and civic worlds (in contrast to the noisy but irrelevant feral feminists in academia, like Germaine Greer). Ludicrously, she is of the opinion that "it can be argued I believe that Jesus was a feminist" (see here for that and other insights), which clearly verges on blasphemy.

When we hear Ms. Elizabeth Broderick (cut from the same cloth as Ms. Bryce, and her successor as Sex Discrimination Supremo (Suprema, or would that be sexist?)) say that "There is no question that legislated paid maternity leave is a basic human right" we can dismiss it as par for the course. But imagine what resonance it will have when coming from the mouth of the viceroy. We will see an inglorious new chapter open up in the cooperation of feminists like Ms. Bryce and economic rationalists like Mr. Rudd in driving every last mother into menial, low-paying work. And I'm sure it will be a suitable softening-up of the populace for the inevitable popularly-elected 'President' with a popular mandate of his or her own, at which point the 'Washminster' (Washington/Westminster) system of ours will break down entirely.

Reginaldvs Cantvar