Notes: Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Herald letters regarding informal voting:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/leave-it-blank-if-you-dont-like-either-candidate-20100817-128c2.html?skin=text-only

Coptic Orthodox Pope escalates (or at least continues/renews) hostilities between his Church and the Egyptian government?

In The Australian today:

Pope Shenuda III [sic--though should be II., I understand] warned Egyptian Copts - who often use the telephone to maintain contact with their local parish priest when they are abroad - that the security services were tapping calls, the independent Al Masri Al Yawm newspaper said.

Shenuda III said: "Beware not to admit your sins over the telephone, because all phone conversations are recorded by the state security services.

"Otherwise, you will have to go seek absolution in prison, from the police, rather than from your local priest."

The cleric reportedly issued the warning to hundreds of worshippers during a sermon in Alexandria on Sunday.

Copts are the Middle East's largest Christian community and make up about 10 percent of Egypt's largely Muslim population of 80 million.
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/egyptian-sinners-who-dial-a-confession-risk-prison-church-leader-warns/story-fn3dxity-1225906568093]

The article fails to make the connection to Egypt's highest court's recent ruling (see this blog's "Coptic Orthodox Church" label) that the Coptic Orthodox Church is required to have divorce and remarriage, a ruling which the C.O. Pope and C.O. Church intend to disregard. I wonder whether the C.O. Pope's warning ties in with this feud (perhaps not the best word, but you get my drift)?

Dr. Hamilton on The Greens as 'the party of moderation' (and apparently of prudence, justice, and fortitude, too)

Amusing to see Dr. Hamilton positioning The Greens as a centrist via media between 'religious extremism' and sexual libertinism (no mention in the article of abortion or euthanasia and The Greens' policies thereon, though):

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/commentary/the-party-of-moderation-steps-lightly-in-the-footsteps-of-plato/story-e6frgd0x-1225906537799

Dr. Collins on the religious and social/political views (in a word, "integralism") of Mr. Abbott and the late Mr. Santamaria

http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/preview.aspx?aeid=22823

A weak article, one whose weaknesses Mr. Gerard Henderson points out here. No mention in either opinion piece, though, of the Social Kingship of Christ, which is the cornerstone of integralism in the sense in which I regard myself as an integralist.

A telling answer to an 'F.A.Q.' at the website for the re-opened programme for a Sydney Archdiocese Permanent Diaconate

(Last Sunday's Sydney Catholic Weekly had a couple of articles which brought Sydney's Office of the Permanent Diaconate and its website to my attention.)

If a married man is ordained a deacon do he and his wife have to refrain from sexual activity?

Married deacons and their wives do not surrender any rights or responsibilities resulting from their married state of life. Marriage and orders are not incompatible sacraments; rather, there is a great mutuality between them.
[http://www.sydneydiaconate.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=18&Itemid=20#sexlife]

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Agapitus, Martyr, and of St. Helen, Empress, Widow, A.D. 2010

Facts and Figures: On abortion in Australia ("with some caveats") (plus the respective histories and policies of Ms Gillard and Mr. Abbott on it)

The following comes from an article which appeared on what was presumably page ten of the "Health" section of the "Weekend Professional" supplement of last Saturday's edition of The Weekend Australian:

Weekend Health recently obtained government data on pregnancy terminations. It's not the full picture but a valuable snapshot of trends and comparisons in abortion supply and demand.

In 2008-09, 69,026 patients had 72,203 services under a Medicare item number the Department of Health and Ageing nominates as the most accurate indicator of abortion numbers, albeit with some caveats. That item number may cover services for other conditions but does not include abortions conducted in public hospitals or under third-party insurance arrangements.

The number of patients identified under that item number increased by less than 2 per cent since 2004-05. Numbers were down in NSW-ACT, Western Australia and South Australia-Northern Territory but up in other states.

The age group using the most services was the over-35s, with 16,592, followed by the 20 to 24age group with 16,049, the 25 to 29 group with 13,982, the 30 to 34 group with 12,821, and the 19 and younger group with 9841.

More women have those services in large cities (54,614) than inner regional (10,516) and outer regional or remote areas (4158), and the cost to Medicare in 2008-09 was $11,338,880.

Abortion and the issue of embryonic stem cell research have sparked some of the most emotive and divisive debates in federal parliament.

When he was health minister, Abbott handed $22 million over four years to an outspoken critic of ES cell research to establish an adult stem cell institute, bypassing National Health and Medical Research Council review. He also labelled the abortion rate a "national tragedy" and an "unutterable shame", and vowed to reduce the number of pregnancy terminations conducted in Australia.

"Somehow up to 100,000 abortions a year is accepted as a fact of life, almost by some as a badge of liberation from old oppressions," Abbott told parliament.

"We have a bizarre double standard in this country where someone who kills a pregnant woman's baby is guilty of murder, but a woman who aborts an unborn baby is simply exercising choice."

In that debate, Gillard felt the need to tell Abbott the discussion was "not about you, Tony," as Labor accused the conservative Christian of putting religion before policy. She suggested the debate take into account the broader issues around contraception, pregnancy and the treatment of women.

"If we were to truly live in a world where abortion was safe, legal and rare, then we would need to live in a world where there was no sexual violence against women . . . where contraception never failed," Gillard said at the time.

"I wish we lived in that world, and we should all be striving to attain it, but the stark reality is that we do not."

Abbott lost ministerial control of the RU-486 drug, and the hotline he established to dissuade women from having an abortion last month became a broader parents' helpline.

Yet, even though former leaders such as John Howard and Kevin Rudd have actively pursued the Christian vote, Abbott isn't using abortion as leverage.

He was uncharacteristically brief this week when asked if he would block RU-486, list abortion as a separate Medicare item number to aid research or ban Medicare funding for terminations.

"The answer is no, we're not going to do any of those things," he said. "We have no plans whatsoever for any change in that area."

Gillard hasn't been drawn on the issue, but a spokesman for Labor's campaign echoed Abbott, saying no changes were planned.
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/health-science/dont-mention-the-a-word-abortion/story-e6frg8y6-1225904661029]

Reginaldvs Cantvar

Feast of St. Hyacinth, Confessor, A.D. 2010

Notes: Thursday, June 17, 2010

Two articles on abortion and politics

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/health-minister-nicola-roxon-attacks-opposition-leader-tony-abbott-on-abortion-issue/story-fn3dxity-1225880561340
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/politics/bid-to-raise-abortion-during-parental-leave-debate-angers-senators/story-e6frgczf-1225880471463

Body of the first article (it's not too long):

FEDERAL Health Minister Nicola Roxon has launched an attack on Tony Abbott and his religion, accusing the opposition leader of letting his "personal beliefs" in Catholicism affect policy formulation.

Ms Roxon fired the salvo during question time today when discussing Labor's commitment to an "expanded and improved pregnancy, birth and baby hotline".

"We want to provide help and information and choice to women, not give them a lecture," the health minister told parliament.

"This is in stark contrast to the complete failure of the leader of the opposition's own baby, and that was the national pregnancy support helpline."

Mr Abbott's helpline was established in 2007 after he failed as health minister to stop the introduction of the abortion pill RU-486.

Opponents argued the groups selected to formulate the advice to be provided on the helpline were biased because they followed Catholic teaching and were openly pro-life.

Ms Roxon said Mr Abbott allowed his "personal beliefs to interfere and get in the way of providing completely accessible and non-judgmental public services".

"Mr Abbott doesn't live in the real world," she said.

The attack comes after the Rudd government warned Australians that the latest opinion polls showed Mr Abbott could win the next election.

Frontbenchers lined up to label the opposition leader as "too risky" for the top job.

Excerpt from the second:

A bid by Family First leader Steve Fielding to turn a parliamentary debate about paid parental leave into one about abortion has angered fellow senators.

A largely bipartisan Senate debate about the Rudd government's paid parental leave scheme became heated today when Senator Fielding introduced amendments dealing with abortion.

He called for a stricter definition of a mother's eligibility in the event of a late-term abortion, to ensure those women are not eligible for any paid parental leave.

“Drug addicts and welfare cheats can go out there and get themselves pregnant and then after 20 weeks have an abortion and still pocket the government's cash,” Senator Fielding told the Senate.

The debate moved to the difference between stillborn babies and those that had been aborted.

“We don't need assurances, we need to make sure this is in the law,” Senator Fielding said.

“There may be mums out there who want to cheat the system in an horrific way.”

"Groups seek Federal protection for Catholic education"

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=21937

Excerpt:

Catholic Education Commissions have joined the Federation of Parents and Friends Associations in a combined push for six Federal commitments that will ensure Catholic education remains sustainable.

The Queensland Catholic Education Commission (QCEC) issued a statement outlining the demands that have come from the Federation of Parents and Friends Associations and the National Catholic Education Commission (NCEC).

These are that:

•Catholic schools and systems should have a direct (funding) relationship with the Commonwealth Government, underpinned by legislation.
•Catholic schools and systems from 2013 have, at the very least, access to the same funds, indexed to government school costs, as currently available.
•Catholic systems have the
capacity to distribute funds to schools according to need. •Funding levels must be indexedannually, using a transparent mechanism, to ensure that Catholic schools and systems are able to meet the rising costs of education.
•Funding for students with disabilities must be increased towards parity with government school funding.
•Capital funding should be increased for educationally disadvantaged communities and areas of population growth.

As the only commenter at that article said:

Why do these organisations still call themselves Catholic Education or Catholic Schools? They're of little use to the CHurch Mission.

Posted By: John Streaky Bay SA

It sounds to me like a recipe for driving the final nail into the coffin of genuinely Catholic Catholic education in Australia.

H.H. The Pope on the theology and philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas

Here's an interesting allocution by the Holy Father (this is the text of the relevant item in today's Vatican Information Service e-mail bulletin):

***

THOMAS AQUINAS: INTER-RELATION OF PHILOSOPHY, THEOLOGY

VATICAN CITY, 16 JUN 2010 (VIS) - In his catechesis during this morning's general audience, Benedict XVI continued his presentation of the figure of St. Thomas Aquinas, "a theologian of such importance that the study of his works was explicitly recommended by Vatican Council II", he said. He also recalled how in 1880 Leo XIII declared him as patron of Catholic schools and universities.

The Pope noted how Thomas Aquinas focused on the distinction between philosophy and theology. This was because in his time, in the light of Aristotelian and Platonic thought on the one hand, and the philosophy of the Church Fathers on the other, "the burning question was whether ... a philosophy elaborated without reference to Christ and the world of faith, and that elaborated bearing Christ and the world of faith in mind, were compatible or mutually exclusive".

"Thomas", the Holy Father explained, "was firmly convinced that they were compatible, and that the philosophy elaborated without Christ was awaiting only the light of Jesus in order to be made complete. The novelty of Thomas, what determined his path as a thinker, was this: to demonstrate the independence of philosophy and theology, and at the same time their inter-relation".

For the "Doctor Angelicus", the Pope went on, "faith consolidates, integrates and illuminates the heritage of truth acquired by human reason. The trust St. Thomas places in these two instruments of knowledge (faith and reason) can be explained by his conviction that both come from a single wellspring of truth, the divine Logos which works in the area of both creation and redemption".

Having established the principle of reason and faith, St. Thomas makes it clear that they follow different cognitive processes: "Reason accepts a truth by virtue of its intrinsic evidence, either mediated or direct; faith, on the other hand, accepts a truth on the basis of the authority of the revealed Word of God".

"This distinction ensures the autonomy of the human sciences, ... and the theological sciences. However this does not mean a separation; rather, it implies mutual and advantageous collaboration. Faith, in fact, protects reason from any temptation to mistrust in its own capacities and stimulates it to open itself to ever broader horizons".

"Reason too, with the means at its disposal, can do something important for faith, offering it a triple service which St. Thomas summarises thus: ... 'demonstrating the foundations of faith; using similitudes to explain the truth of faith; rebuffing the objections that arise against the faith'. The entire history of Christian theology is, in the final analysis, the exercise of this duty of the intellect, which shows the intelligibility of the faith, its inner structure and harmony, its reasonableness and its capacity to promote the good of man.

"The correctness of theological reasoning and its true cognitive significance is based on the value of theological language which, according to St. Thomas, is principally a language of analogy", the Pope added. "Analogy recognises shared perfections in the created world and in God". Thomas based his doctrine of analogy, "not only on purely philosophical arguments, but also on the fact that, with the revelation, God Himself spoke to us and, thus, authorised us to speak about Him".

The Holy Father highlighted the importance of this doctrine which, he said, "helps us overcome certain objections raised by modern atheism which denies that religious language possesses objective meaning and holds that it only has a subjective or merely emotional value. In the light of the teachings of St. Thomas, theology affirms that, however limited, religious language does have meaning".

St. Thomas' moral theology retains great relevance in its affirmation that "the theological and moral virtues of man are rooted in human nature", said Pope Benedict. "Divine Grace accompanies, supports and encourages ethical commitment but, according to St. Thomas, all men and women, believers and non-believers, are of themselves called to recognise the requirements of human nature as expressed in natural law, and to draw inspiration therefrom when formulating positive law; that is, the laws produced by civil and political authorities to regulate human society.

"When natural law and the responsibility it implies are denied," he added, "the way is thrown dramatically open to ethical relativism at an individual level, and to totalitarianism at a political level. Defending the universal rights of man and affirming the absolute value of the dignity of the person presupposes a foundation: and is not this foundation natural law, with the non-negotiable values it contains?".

"Thomas", the Holy Father concluded, "presents us with a broad and trusting view of human reason. Broad, because it is not limited to the area of empirical-scientific reason but open to all of existence and therefore also to the fundamental and inescapable questions of human life; trusting, because human reason, especially if it welcomes the inspiration of Christian faith, promotes a civilisation which recognises the dignity of the person, the inviolability of his rights and the cogency of his duties".
AG/ VIS 20100616 (830)

***

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Gregory Barbarigo, Bishop, Confessor, A.D. 2010

Notes: Thursday, May 27, 2010

Two newspaper letters on Mr. Abbott's paid parental leave policy

Here's a good letter, published, in slightly different forms, in today's issues of both The Sydney Morning Herald (which published it under a sneering little heading) and The Australian:

What's wrong with Libs' picket fence?

''A true conservative moves with the times,'' says Tony Abbott (''Abbott tells Libs to forget Howard and back parental leave'', May 26). Was this an unscripted comment, or has he lost his dictionary?

A true conservative retains those traditions and values that have stood the test of time. Mothers caring for babies and toddlers - at least until age two or three - is such a tradition, and studies show children greatly benefit. Most of those mothers will return to the outside workforce when their children become more independent.

Mr Abbott wants to punish conservative mothers. Unless they return to paid work by the time their babies are six to 12 months old they miss out on his generous maternity leave of up to $75,000, financed by a great big new business tax which all of us would pay for with increased prices.

This policy is discriminatory. It is also harmful social engineering. Think again, Tony.

Roslyn Phillips Tea Tree Gully (SA)
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/identity-fraud-puts-australian-lives-in-danger-20100526-wdv2.html?skin=text-only]

Social engineering
From: The Australian May 27, 2010 12:00AM

A TRUE conservative "moves with the times", says Tony Abbott ("Abbott's plea on paid parental leave", 26/5). Was this an unscripted comment, or has he lost his dictionary?

Actually, a true conservative retains those traditions and values which have stood the test of time.

Mums caring for their babies and toddlers at least until the age of two or three is one of those traditions, and studies show children greatly benefit from it. Most of those mums will return to the workforce when their children become more independent.

Abbott wants to punish conservative mothers. Unless they return to paid work by the time their babies are six to 12 months, they will miss out on his generous maternity leave of up to $75,000, financed by a great big new business tax which all of us would pay for through increased prices.

This policy is discriminatory. It's also harmful social engineering.

Roslyn Phillips, Tea Tree Gully, SA
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/social-engineering/story-fn558imw-1225871771262]

And here's an even better one, from The Australian's "Last Post" section of its Letters page:

Shame on Tony Abbott for espousing a paid parental leave scheme which treats stay-at-home mothers as second-rate. His policy will further encourage women to be careerists who leave the raising of their children to institutions - de facto orphans, as it were.

Ann Crawford, Tynong, Vic
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/last-post-may-27/story-fn558imw-1225871773755]

Tynong is, of course, the veritable 'capital city' of Catholic Tradition in Australia.

More from Joshua on liturgical matters

"The History of the Mass":
http://psallitesapienter.blogspot.com/2010/05/history-of-mass.html

Mr. Muehlenberg on abortion

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2010/05/26/more-scenes-from-the-abortion-wars/

Excerpt:

... late-term abortions have skyrocketed at the Royal Women’s Hospital in Melbourne after Victorian laws fully legalising abortion were passed in 2008. Three late-term abortions a week are now performed at the hospital. Doctors and nurses are feeling “traumatised” as a result. This even appeared on a Seven News segment ...

The news item really botched the story, claiming almost all such abortions were necessary to save the life of the mother. This is in fact rarely the case, and both baby and mother are generally perfectly healthy. ...

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Thursday in the Octave of Pentecost, A.D. 2010

Mrs. Shanahan on discouraging stay-at-home married mothers while encouraging stay-at-home unwed mothers

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/a-tax-on-workers-to-bolster-welfare-mums-wont-help-growing-class-of-disadvantaged/story-e6frg6zo-1225842745315

Mrs. Angela Shanahan had an interesting column in last Saturday's edition of The Weekend Australian. Here are some excerpts:

Almost 30 per cent of Australian children are born out of wedlock, mostly to 20-something single mums. Many never marry and will probably be reliant on income support for large chunks of their lives.

[...] The flip side of the growing number of ex[tra-?]nuptial births is the so-called marriage gap, the modern phenomenon in which girls who have tertiary education and are generally ambitious are the ones who are getting married. This is unlike the past when the home-centred, less educated 20-somethings would have married and had children. In fact most tertiary-educated women are married by the time they are 30 and try to have the first child quickly because their window of fertility is fast narrowing. Importantly, the marriage gap has resulted in two classes of mothers: those who are married and live in stable relationships and those who aren't and probably don't.

There has been optimism that the divorce rate has levelled off, a good thing because it means fewer of those women now marrying will end up single mothers. However, the marriage rate is plummeting, so there will be a disproportionate number of children on the bottom end of the economic scale.

This is, and will continue to be, a huge drain on the welfare system. According to The Australian's social affairs writer Stephen Lunn, women receive two-thirds of income-support payments -- mostly parenting payments -- and in the future a disproportionate number will not have partners. Government and the opposition should start thinking about the consequences of this.

In his book Battlelines Tony Abbott states the disproportionate numbers of children in the bottom income deciles are the reason behind his maternity leave push: get the people at the top of the tree to have more kids.Unfortunately, we will need a lot more than maternity leave for the ones at the top to fix this problem because the disproportionate exnuptial birthrate at the bottom end of the economic spectrum will make the figures on children in poverty only worse.

There is another part of this seesaw. Larger stable families in the middle who in the past could have had long periods living on a single income can no longer afford to do so. They are taxed as individuals. The so-called family tax benefit part B has been means-tested and there is no real taxation relief for these families, let alone the kinds of freebies that come with a social security card.

[...] However, no one has thought of any way to substantially alleviate the problems of tax disadvantage with which families have to cope. It seems that luring more middle-income mothers into the workforce is all they can think of. But a second income is often a much resented necessity and not always the career choice it is portrayed as.

[...] Meanwhile, the welfare problem is huge and it's going to get bigger. So it is not a case of the married stay-at-home mums v the salaried mums that are the two great blocks of women in two different family types, as is often portrayed in the one-track ideology of the media mentality.

It is the single, welfare-dependent mothers who will never marry and the rest; one group supporting another.

Abbott emphasises that married middle-class women should be able to work and have more children. But the taxes of those married mums forced to work are paying for a growing number of children of single mums.
[my square-bracketed interpolations]

Reginaldvs Cantvar
24.III.2010