Notes: Tuesday, September 6-Wednesday, September 14, 2011 (part 1 of 2)

1. A couple of recent posts from Mr. Muehlenberg:

1.1 On the latest initiative for propagating multiculturalism

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/09/05/force-fed-multiculturalism/

Labels: education, multiculturalism

1.2 On his new book, on the challenge of homosexuality

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/09/04/strained-relations/

Labels: G.L.B.T.

2. The latest evidence for a link between abortion and mental health problems

http://www.angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38771

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/study-links-abortion-to-mental-health-problems/story-e6freuy9-1226127657384

Originally I wasn't going to bother logging that AQ post, since anyone who opposes abortion--myself and, presumably, my readers among them--would regard the findings as unsurprising, but then I saw the print-edition version of the article to whose on-line version I link above here taking up about a quarter of page twenty-five of the Sydney Daily Telegraph of Friday, September 2, 2011, and so I thought that I'd better log it, since it's so rare for one of the mainstream media to highlight the adverse consequences of abortion (needless to say, the mainstream media tend not to regard the death of an unborn baby as a necessarily adverse consequence) that the findings must be important. Here are the key excerpts from that Tele article:

The research by American academic Priscilla Coleman, published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, said abortion was linked with a 34 per cent greater chance of anxiety disorders and a 37 per cent higher possibility of depression.

This was more than double the risk of alcohol abuse, three times greater risk of cannabis use at 220 per cent and 155 per cent greater risk of attempted suicide.

[...] "Overall, the results revealed that women who had undergone an abortion experienced an 81 per cent increased risk of mental health problems, and nearly 10 per cent of the incidence of mental health problems were shown to be directly attributable to abortion."

The study was based on an analysis of 22 separate projects, which together analysed the experiences of 877,000 women, of whom 163,831 had had an abortion.

Labels: abortion, mental health

3. Dr. Sammut on, among other things, "the disturbing significance of the controversial [recent] NSW birth certificate decision"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/womens-rights-push-dads-aside/story-e6frgd0x-1226128389989

Worth reading in full, but the final paragraph is what I want to log here:

This is the disturbing significance of the controversial NSW birth certificate decision. That no gay spokesperson has expressed concern for the father and child stolen from each other speaks volumes about their priorities. Traditionalists have long argued in defence of marriage that the institution is fundamentally about the rights of children and that advocates of gay marriage just don't get this. Based on the "sperm donor dad" case, they appear to have a point.

Labels: birth certificates, child-rearing, families, G.L.B.T., marriage, parenthood, youngsters

4. "THE well-being of Australia's children and young adults has declined sharply in the past decade - and sliding marriage rates are partly to blame"; "marriage makes a difference, not just the characteristics of a child's parents, because of the commitment involved"

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life/falling-marriage-rates-hurting-children-report-20110905-1jubf.html?skin=text-only

Labels: child-rearing, families, marriage, parenthood, youngsters

5. "A member of U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron’s government is calling for a ban on marriages at Christian churches if they refuse to also perform same-sex unions"

http://members7.boardhost.com/CathPews/thread/1315540178.html

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38865

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/09/uk-mp-pushes-to-force-church-to-have-contrary-to-nature-marriages-or-no-marriages-at-all/

Apparently, such a ban would involve adopting the system, which is used in some Continental countries, in which prospective spouses who intend to wed in a religious ceremony have to get a 'civil marriage' as well.

Labels: G.L.B.T., marriage, U.K.

6. "Irish government backs down on confessional bill"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38855

Labels: Alan Shatter, Ireland, sexual abuse

7. "Lesbian foster couple put six year old boy in girl's clothes and post photos on Facebook"

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/lesbian-foster-couple-put-six-year-old-boy-in-girls-clothes-and-post-photos-on-facebook/story-e6freuzr-1226134422557

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/09/12/more-outrages-from-the-rainbow-warriors/

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/same-sex-parents-should-foster-not-play-politics/story-fn6b3v4f-1226135313446

I wonder whether there has been any scholarly research into the phenomenon of one of the members of a same-sex couple undergoing a 'sex change'?

Labels: child-rearing, families, G.L.B.T., parenthood

8. "MEN'S bodies hardwire them to become caring fathers by dropping their testosterone levels after a child is born, a landmark investigation has found"

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/fathers-give-up-mojo-after-children/story-fn6b3v4f-1226135425389

Labels: families, medicine, parenthood

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, A.D. 2011

Notes: Wednesday, August 24-Monday, September 5, 2011 (part 1 of 2)

1. On the Department of Defence's Understanding Transitioning Gender in the Workplace document

One of The Weekend Australian's recent columns (warning: The column's name is blasphemous, and there is a picture of a bra at the top of its web-page) featured an amusing excerpt from a recent publication by Australia's Department of Defence. Here are some other points of interest from that document:

• In the course of their duties, commanders and managers may not encounter any Defence people who wish to transition gender. It is important however that commanders and managers are aware of their obligations and responsibilities with regard to the support and management of people who are transitioning gender.
  [p. 3]

• It is also important to use the correct pronouns such as ‘she’ or ‘her’ in the case of a male transitioning to a female or ‘he’ or ‘him’ in the case of a female transitioning to a male. ... The continued deliberate use of pronouns and names relating to the previous gender identity will be construed as sexual harassment.
  [p. 7]

• Should the situation arise where open communal same sex showers are the only showers available (i.e. field exercises/deployments), the transitioning person and their commander or manager should discuss and agree upon an appropriate arrangement to ensure the needs of all people are met. This situation would only apply prior to the transitioning person undergoing gender realignment surgery.
  [p. 7]

• Note that the use of the term ‘sex change’ may be perceived as derogatory.
  [p. 12]

• The precise definition for transgender remains in constant flux.
  [p. 13]

• Approximately one in 11,000 males and one in 30,000 females have the condition. Note that the prevalence of the condition is often understated as most statistics only look at those people who have completed surgery.
  [p. 16]

Note those figures on the rate of incidence of Gender Identity Disorder ("the condition" to which that last quotation refers): So in a randomly-selected sample of 60000 people, with a male:female ratio of presumably roughly 50:50, there will be roughly three "transgender women" and roughly one "transgender man" (see p. 13 for the terminology). Even if you want to double that in order to take into account the fact that the prevalence is supposedly understated, that's still only six men who feel that they're women and two women who feel that they're men. Now according to the Defence Annual Report 2009-10,

At 30 June 2010, Defence had 73,490 permanent employees (headcount) comprising 57,799 permanent ADF members and 15,691 APS staff.
[http://www.defence.gov.au/Budget/09-10/dar/dar_0910_v1_s4.pdf#nameddest=a7]

and the Defence Materiel Organisation will employ, in 2011-2012, "over 7,000 people" (source), so that one would expect that the entire Defence workforce will contain, at most, a mere ten "transgender people". Why, then, would the Department even bother putting together a whole booklet on Defence employees' 'gender affirmation' (destroying the gender in order to affirm it?) and tell its commanders and managers that it "is important" that they "are aware of their obligations and responsibilities with regard to the support and management of people who are transitioning gender"? Could it be that there is an ideological motive involved here? I see that one of the websites listed under the heading "Additional Resources" on p. 17 is that of "Pride in Diversity"; I've blogged on "Pride in Diversity" in item 6 of this edition of Notes, and you'll see at its website that it "was established as a collaboration between" Stonewall, "a London-based LGBT advocacy group", and two other organisations.

Labels: A.D.F., Defence Department, G.L.B.T., Pride in Diversity

2. On The Australian's attitude towards so-called gay marriage

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/same-sex-marriage-debate-must-not-be-shut-down/story-e6frg71x-1226122387432

That link leads to what is, to date, the fullest statement of The Australian's official editorial attitude towards so-called gay marriage. Its author writes that

The Australian leans towards libertarianism on social issues, believing the state should tread as lightly as possible around personal issues. It is not our role to pronounce one way or another on same-sex marriage ...

Yet in that editorial and this earlier one The Australian puts inverted commas around the word "marriage" when speaking of polygamous ones without ever, as far as I can recall, doing so for same-sex unions.

And that editorial, after noting some of the problems involved with gay 'marriage', says that "[n]one of [those] difficulties are insurmountable" (which indicates that The Australian has no in-principle opposition to the notion). But how does The Australian propose to 'surmount' a same-sex marriage's constitutional incapacity for consummation? And how does it propose to 'surmount' the deprivation of a mother for those children procured by Gay 'husbands' and their respective 'wives' and of a father for children procured by Lesbian 'husbands' and their respective 'wives'?

Labels: Australian, families, G.L.B.T., marriage, parenthood

3. "approximately 24 percent of [American] children are born to co-habiting couples"

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=27879

Labels: families, parenthood, U.S.A.

4. "the Holy Father does not allow Girl Altar Boys within his own Diocese of Rome"

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/08/should-the-infamous-altar-girl-decision-be-reversed-wm-oddie-opines-wdtprs-polls-included/

Labels: Diocese of Rome, liturgy

5. "Why mothers matter"

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/why_mothers_matter/

(That came to my attention via the LMF News e-mail of August 2011 from The Archdiocese of Sydney's Life, Marriage & Family Centre.)

Labels: families, parenthood

6. "The statistics on women in Victoria having terminations from 24 weeks into pregnancy are incomplete, badly presented and out of date - but they still allow us to estimate the number at slightly fewer than 138 women a year"

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/talk-choice-no-time-to-waste-20110828-1jgft.html?skin=text-only

Labels: abortion

7. Mr. Magister on, among other things, then-Fr. Ratzinger's involvement with the Neo-catechumenal Way in its early days

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38675

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, Neo-catechumenal Way

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Lawrence Justinian, Bishop, Confessor, A.D. 2011

Notes: Tuesday, August 9-Tuesday, August 16, 2011 (part 1 of 2)

1. Dr. Sudlow on an essay which, according to him, "reframes the problem [of whether Dignitatis humanæ is in continuity with pre-Conciliar teaching] completely"

http://thesensiblebond.blogspot.com/2011/08/coercion-and-liberty-reframing-debate.html

The core of this 'reframing' seems to be, in Dr. Sudlow's reading, as follows:

the Church has only dogmatically asserted its power of coercion over the baptised, and any State which acts as the civil arm to help the Church in this matter does so by delegation of the Church and NOT by its own power.

The problem with that, and the reason for which I disagree that it is "game-changing", is that although the State does indeed exercise coercive power over the Baptised in matters of religion by delegation of the Church, nevertheless, the State is competent to act by its own power when it seeks to repress offences against the Catholic religion; trying to make someone do what he does not want to do (coercion) is quite different to preventing him from doing what he wants to do.

Labels: Church and State, Dignitatis Humanæ, morality, religious liberty, theology, Thomas Pink

2. A Herald letter which corrects misconceptions about religious exemptions from taxation

Under the heading "Churches do pay" here:

http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/show-some-humanity-and-let-them-remain-20110808-1ijd4.html?skin=text-only

Labels: taxation

3. "Report finds boys exhibit behavioural problems earlier than girls"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/report-finds-boys-exhibit-behavioural-problems-earlier-than-girls/story-fn59niix-1226111957815

Labels: gender differences

4. A couple of recent comments from Dr. Brown

4.1 On the Eucharist as memorial

Mainly his third point here:

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/08/on-the-matter-of-ad-orientem-worship/#comment-288650

Labels: liturgy

4.2 A joke

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/08/waiting-for-zagano/#comment-288765

Labels: liturgy, N.O.M., T.L.M.

5. Mr. Brent on voting turnout

http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/mumble/index.php/theaustralian/comments/turnout_schmurnout/

Labels: voting

6. An attempted defence of sodomite-catamite 'parenting' which (defence) backfires

From a letter to the Herald last week:

Maurie Stack and Martin Bell (Letters, August 11) should not assume that two lesbians raising children are depriving those children of a relationship with their biological father.

[...] [The Lesbian letter-writer's children] also know who their donor father is and we have always fostered contact and a relationship with him. We are not alone in this family model.
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/love-not-biology-determines-good-parenting-20110811-1iorr.html?skin=text-only]

The problem with this line of argument is that once they acknowledge that contact and a relationship with the biological father is a good thing, one has to ask them Why do you deprive the children of the best form of contact and relationship, which is that in which the biological father lives with his children? I suppose that defenders of depriving children of this good would try to deflect the argument by pointing out that it is not just Lesbian households in which the biological father does not live with the children. This attempted evasion is answered by pointing out that fathers who legitimately live away from their respective families do so for some greater good, e.g. in the case of overseas military service, whereas Lesbian couples do so for an evil, namely, the indulgence of their disordered preferences. (And as for fathers who illegitmately live away from their respective families, one need only point out that two wrongs don't make a right.)

(And of course, the same goes, mutatis mutandis, for Gay 'co-parents' whose children have only intermittent contact with their respective biological mothers.)

Labels: families, G.L.B.T., morality, parenthood

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Joachim, Confessor, A.D. 2011

Notes: Tuesday, July 26-Monday, August 8, 2011 (part 2 of 2)

1. Dr. Feser on a review by Sir Anthony (Kenny) of the former's The Last Superstition

http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2011/07/kenny-on-tls-in-tls.html

Labels: atheism, philosophy, theology

2. Yet more evidence of the Sodomites' League's success in diverting public discourse on homosexuality away from a focus on behaviour to a focus on 'identity'

From a Herald letter from one David Harris of Manly:

Fred Nile ... entered the NSW Upper House in 1980 with a single issue - to stop members of the gay community from celebrating their own identity.
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/dilemma-solved--abolish-the-upper-houses-20110801-1i8df.html?skin=text-only]

That seems inaccurate in at least two points: Mr. Nile was never a one-issue politician, and in 1980 New South Wales law did not, as far as I know, prohibit anyone "celebrating their own identity" (though it did, of course, prohibit buggery until, if I'm not mistaken, 1984, but that prohibition applied irrespective of whether the sodomite was homosexual or heterosexual and irrespective of whether the catamite was male or female, so clearly it involved discrimination neither on the basis of sex nor of sexual disorientation).

Labels: Fred Nile, G.L.B.T.

3. Fortunately, it seems that the background of one of the main participants in Ireland's planning for an attack on the Sacrament of Penance has not gone completely unnoticed there

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=414425#414425

Labels: Alan Shatter

4. Point-counterpoint in the Herald letters page:

4.1 In discussion on N.S.W. State school "ethics" classes

One Philip Cooney of Wentworth Falls wrote that

Surely it can't threaten our children to ask why there was not open access to the curriculum material prior to its introduction ...
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/little-virtue-in-labors-games-with-education-20110802-1i9si.html?skin=text-only]

I too had the impression that there was a lack of open access to the 'ethics class' material before its introduction, but then the next day a letter was published which said that

[t]he ethics course syllabus was reviewed and approved by the NSW Education Department.
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/dont-play-russian-roulette-with-our-aquifers-20110803-1ibl2.html?skin=text-only]

Did the "ethics" folks give access only to the Department, then? (I don't ask that rhetorically; does anyone know the answer?)

The day after that, Mr. Nile had a column published on the matter, in which he wrote that there are some who

wrongly believe that when Sir Henry Parkes introduced free and ''secular'' state education, he meant ''non-Christian'' or ''non-religious''. That was never his intention. In the 1880s, ''secular'' was used to prohibit denominational teaching in NSW classrooms, not scripture classes, which Parkes decreed should fill one hour per day.

But I thought that 'secular' as in 'secularist' was precisely what the likes of Parkes intended. One Keith Parsons of Newcastle affirmed my point of view in a letter published, with others, under the heading "Reason v dogma: Fred's no Socrates" here:

The only reason Sir Henry Parkes, almost 130 years ago, supported religious instruction in public schools was to get the churches that dominated school education to support the concept of a universal, free, public, secular education system.

Are any readers here knowledgeable on the motives and intentions of Australia's late-nineteenth-century proponents of 'free, compulsory, and secular' schooling (I won't say education)?

Labels: education, Henry Parkes, secularism, St James Ethics Centre

4.2 In discussion on the birth certificates of donor-conceived children

Last week the Herald gave us a reminder of the insanity of some of New South Wales's laws:

Sperm donors have no legal parental status even if they are on a birth certificate and even if they have court-ordered access visits.

But retrospective laws introduced in 2008 gave lesbian partners of women who conceive through artificial insemination legal parenting status.
[http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/keep-me-named-as-father-donor-begs-court-20110802-1i9yf.html?skin=text-only
Or alternatively:
http://www.smh.com.au/national/sperm-donor-could-lose-his-status-20110802-1i9wq.html?skin=text-only]

The coverage elicited a terse little letter, published under the heading "Donor delisting" here, from one Samantha Chung of Newtown, but the next day one Eva Elbourne of Gordon provided quite a good rejoinder (though I'm not sure that I agree with it completely), published under the heading "Donor parents must remain on record" here.

Labels: families, G.L.B.T., parenthood

5. "Russia is Most Religious Nation In Europe"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38415

Labels: R.O.C., Russia

6. Mr. Verrecchio on homosexuality, narcissism, and their influence on liturgy

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=38404

Labels: G.L.B.T., liturgy, narcissism

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. John Mary Vianney, Confessor, and of Sts. Cyriacus, Largus, and Smaragdus, Martyrs, A.D. 2011

Notes: Thursday, July 7-Tuesday, July 12, 2011

1. Dr. Biddulph on paternal involvement in families

Father love is known in countless studies to help children grow happy and strong. It is the key to boys feeling motivated and believing in themselves, that being a good man is something to strive for. It gives daughters self-esteem and a sense of their intelligence and a value beyond mere sexual attraction. In families where mothers would otherwise do all the emotional heavy lifting, an involved dad provides the missing key to everyone's mental health. Women love a good father. They often wish they had had one themselves.
[http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/goodbye-to-the-distant-authority-figure-hello-to-handson-dads-20110705-1h0oo.html?skin=text-only]

Labels: families, parenthood, social trends, Steve Biddulph

2. Associate Professor Craig on, among other things, Australian "work-family balance strategies and parents' time in paid work, domestic work and childcare"

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/fathers-left-alone-can-spread-load-of-parenting-20110706-1h2d9.html?skin=text-only

Labels: families, parenthood, social trends, work

3. "'That's racist' as a punch line"

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/ct-oped-0707-goldberg-20110707,0,1863723.story

Labels: racism, social trends

4. "the FSSP ... have a general indult to use both the 2nd confiteor and St. Joseph in the canon"

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/07/wdtprs-poll-the-2nd-confiteor/#comment-283797

Labels: F.S.S.P., T.L.M.

5. Ms Irvine and Mr. Penberthy on, among other things, marriage

I highlight here the two articles in question for some of the facts and figures which they report. From Ms Irvine:

... Two thirds of marriages in Australia are performed by civil celebrants rather than religious ministers. ... In the mid-1980s, 60 per cent of the population aged 15 and over were married. By the early noughties, this had fallen to 55 per cent.

The proportion of the population who will never marry increased from 29 per cent to 32 per cent.

Meanwhile, the probability of marriages ending in divorce has risen. The Bureau of Statistics estimates about 28 per cent of marriages entered into in the mid-1980s could be expected to end in divorce. By the early noughties, this had risen to 33 per cent. ...
[http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/equality-for-all-parents-straight-or-gay-20110701-1gv6u.html?skin=text-only]

Mr. Penberthy had more on the relative proportions of civilly- and religiously-celebrated weddings:

... ABS figures released this month show that religious wedding ceremonies are now very much in the minority for couples tying the knot. Almost two-thirds of all wedding ceremonies are now conducted by celebrants. In 1969, 90 per cent of couples opted for church weddings. In 1999 it was 50 per cent. In 2009 it was just 35 per cent. That’s a decline of 15 per cent in the space of one decade.
[http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/free-to-believe-in-god-free-to-keep-quiet-about-it/]

Labels: divorce, marriage, social trends

6. A new initiative for propagating the Darwinist worldview

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/big-history-to-give-students-big-picture/story-fn59niix-1226081625657

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/big-picture-showman-puts-history-lessons-up-in-lights/story-fn59niix-1226080801441

Labels: David Christian, education, evolution, history, secularism

7. More on 'sleeping rough' by the homeless

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), on Census night in 2006 the homeless population in Australia was 105,000. There are more than 27,000 living in NSW, a figure that has seen no decline since 1990 (ABS 2009).

The bureau’s most recent report on homelessness – Counting the Homeless, 2006 (which includes data from the 2006 Census and other sources, such as the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) – found that primary homelessness, such as ‘sleeping rough’ or in an improvised shelter, accounted for 16 per cent of all homelessness in Australia.
[http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/article.php?classID=1&subclassID=2&articleID=8471&class=Latest
News&subclass=CW National]

See also the editorial:

http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/article.php?classID=2&subclassID=6&articleID=8481&class=Comment&subclass=Editorial

(Again, I ask you not to jump to conclusions about why I'm posting this. And note that the inverted commas in this item's title are not scare quotes; I'm just following the usage of the linked article.)

Labels: homelessness, poverty

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. John Gualbert, Abbot, and of Sts. Nabor and Felix, Martyrs, A.D. 2011

Notes: Tuesday, May 24-Monday, May 30, 2011 (part 1 of 2)

1. A recent AQ post and comment on gay indoctrination of children

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37409

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=407490#407490

Labels: education, G.L.B.T.

2. Ethiopia: The world's second Catholic Confessional State

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=26409

So apparently Armenia was the world's first Catholic Confessional State, Ethiopia was the second, and presumably the Roman Empire was the third.

Labels: Confessional State, Ethiopia

3. A few recent items regarding the intersection of the family and the economy

3.1 "WHEN a couple disagrees on whether to have a child or more children, the woman's wishes usually prevail. But a study that tracks thousands of people over six years shows the introduction of the $3000 baby bonus gave more power to the partner who wanted more children - even if that was the man."

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/pregnancy-power-shift-money-does-the-talking-20110522-1ez0r.html?skin=text-only

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/bonus-ups-bargaining-power-20110522-1eyxc.html?skin=text-only

Labels: economics, families, parenthood, taxation

3.2 "[T]he stay-at-home mum is becoming a threatened species, with only a quarter of couples with children living in a single-income household"

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/the-mothers-load-dual-income-families-replacing-stay-at-home-mums/story-e6freuzr-1226059226858

Labels: demography, economics, families, parenthood

3.3 Mrs. Shanahan on, among other things, the abolition of "the dependent spouse rebate for younger, childless couples, which was the only form of income-splitting for these couples"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/budgets/tax-break-or-welfare-either-way-middle-class-families-are-the-losers/story-fn8gf1nz-1226055302947

Labels: economics, families, parenthood, taxation

4. Dr. Médaille on political philosophy and practice

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=37448

Labels: political science

5. A fact and a figure regarding sodomite-catamite 'parenting' in New South Wales

Fact: "Sperm donors do not have automatic legal parenting status [in N.S.W.]. In 2008 that right was given to the partners of lesbian mothers who conceived using a sperm donor."
Source: http://www.westernadvocate.com.au/news/national/national/general/questions-over-sperm-donors-legal-rights/2175320.aspx (Initially I'd intended to give the following U.R.L. as my source, but if you click on it then you'll see that, oddly, its page no longer exists: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/questions-over-sperm-donors-legal-rights-20110525-1f4im.html)

(One Emma Brooks Maher had a letter published in the Herald under the title "A child's right", arguing that "Gay parents need to get real: a birth certificate is not a marriage or partnership document. It records a birth ... And every child has a right to know its genetic background - that is, both mother and father.")

Figure: "Of 94,354 birth registrations last year, 117 were for children born to same-sex parents."
Source: http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/mother-of-all-battles-as-sperm-donor-fights-for-child-20110524-1f2h7.html?skin=text-only

Labels: demography, families, G.L.B.T., N.S.W., parenthood

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Felix, Pope, Martyr, A.D. 2011

Notes: Tuesday, May 17-Monday, May 23, 2011 (part 2 of 2)

4. Text of the C.D.F. response to Msgr. Lefebvre's Dubia about religious liberty/Dignitatis humanæ?

In a recent Sandro Magister article posted at AQ, there was a reference to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's (C.D.F.'s) response to the Dubia which Msgr. Lefebvre submitted to it about Dignitatis humanæ. In that article, the response's title is given as "Liberté religieuse. Réponse aux 'dubia' présentés par S.E. Mgr. Lefebvre" (March 9, 1987). I Googled this, and the search led me to the footnotes of this blog post (in Italian), some of which refer to something called "La Crise intégriste". This in turn led me to the French blog "La crise intégriste", which purports, apparently, to have the text of the C.D.F. response. I face three problems, the last two of which follow from the first:

4.1 The document is in French, and I can't speak French (and the document is not so formatted that I can simply run it through a translator).

4.2 I don't know whether the document is authentic.

4.3 Even if it's authentic, I don't know whether it has been published ethically.

Could any French speakers help me out here?

Labels: Dignitatis Humanæ, Marcel Lefebvre, morality, religious liberty, Roman Curia

5. The S.S.P.X.'s The Problem of the Liturgical Reform is available, for free, on-line

I knew that it was available on-line somewhere, and this comment at Fr. Zuhlsdorf's blog gives its U.R.L. One can also find it via one of the items in the "Articles Index" at the website of the U.S. District of the S.S.P.X.

Labels: liturgy, modernism, N.O.M., S.S.P.X., T.L.M., theology, Vatican II

6. Here we go again: In South Australia, "wide-ranging reforms aimed at providing greater legal protection for children of same-sex parents [were] recommended to Parliament [last week]"

http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Kids-with-two-mums-are-Weet-Bix-kids-too/

Labels: families, G.L.B.T., parenthood, S.A.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
23.V.2011

Notes: Wednesday, March 16-Monday, March 21, 2011 (part 1 of 2)

1. A couple of recent articles regarding the Russian Orthodox Church

1.1 Reasons not to be too optimistic about the prospects for Rome-Moscow relations

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36412

Labels: ecumenism, R.O.C.

1.2 "Russian Orthodox Church hierarch calls for strategic alliance with Catholics, Protestants"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36513

Labels: ecumenism, R.O.C.

2. An AQ thread on, among other things, the requirements imposed on F.S.S.P. priests regarding Vatican II and the Novus Ordo Missæ

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36360

Labels: F.S.S.P.

3. Mr. Assange on the Internet as "the greatest spying machine the world has ever seen"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/internet-is-worlds-greatest-spying-machine-and-obstacle-to-free-speech-assange/story-e6frgakx-1226022439504

Labels: Internet

4. A couple of interesting items from this month's edition (the first for the new year) of the Sydney Archdiocese's Life, Marriage and Family Centre's monthly e-mail

4.1 Dr. van Gend on same-sex 'marriage', same-sex parenting, and Lord Russell's views on marriage

http://www.mercatornet.com/articles/view/liberation_--_or_deprivation/

Labels: Bertrand Russell, G.L.B.T., marriage, morality, parenthood

4.2 The survival of the pro-life movement as a reason for hope in the face of the argument that opponents of 'gay marriage' are 'on the wrong side of history'

http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2011/01/2439

Labels: abortion, G.L.B.T., marriage

5. Mr. Muehlenberg on the re-definition of marriage

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2011/03/16/marriage-equality-let%e2%80%99s-go-for-the-whole-hog/

Labels: Katrina Fox, marriage, morality

6. "Philosopher argues against abortion through reason alone"

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=25470

Labels: abortion, Christopher Kaczor, morality

7. "New documents reveal inner workings of papal birth control commission"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36478

Labels: contraception, Magisterium, morality, Paul VI. Montini

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Benedict, Abbot, A.D. 2011

Notes: Monday-Monday, January 24-31, 2011

1. Projections for Muslim population growth

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/muslim-population-growth-to-boom-study/story-e6frg6so-1225995607652

Labels: demography, Islam

2. On abortion and suicide

2.1 Some figures on abortion in the U.S., South Australia, and Russia

U.S.:
http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35748

South Australia:
http://members7.boardhost.com/CathPews/msg/1296030442.html

Russia:
http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3284

2.2 Mr. Obama and the European Court of Human Rights on the implications of a 'right to privacy' for, respectively, abortion and suicide

Today marks the 38th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that protects women’s health and reproductive freedom, and affirms a fundamental principle: that government should not intrude on private family matters.
[http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/01/22/statement-president-roe-v-wade-anniversary]

Of course, to be more precise, what Mr. Obama meant to say when is he said that "government should not intrude on private family matters" is that 'government should not intrude on some but not all private family matters'--presumably he thinks, despite the logical inconsistency, that a father should be prevented, where feasible, from committing infanticide.

Meanwhile,

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the “respect for private life” found in the European Convention of Human Rights includes the right of individuals to choose freely to commit suicide.
[http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35725]

(See this AQ comment for a different, but still valid, perspective on Mr. Obama's comment.)

Labels: abortion, Barack Obama, demography, E.C.H.R., human rights, morality, suicide

3. "SCIENTISTS are getting closer to finding a non-physical definition of the kilogram"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/race-for-new-kilo-equivalent/story-e6frg6so-1225993858116

Labels: physics

4. Various letter-writers on so-called gay marriage and related questions

Below is my transcription of four letters, apparently not available on-line, which were published in The Weekend Australian Magazine's "Feedback" section (page 4) last Saturday. I don't necessarily agree with the whole content and/or expression of each of these letters, but each makes at least one good point:

"Tying the Knot" (Jan 15-16), eulo-gising "same-sex" marriages, is sugar-coating a poison pill. The usual anec-dotes are presented about happy homosexual unions. We are beguiled with images of beautiful babies with same-sex "parents". Wait for the posion pill to act on these babies. Then we will see a little girl wrapping herself around a male father figure, or a male young-ster crying, "I wish I had a mother."
Ian Seccombe
Epping, NSW

Most people probably have no serious objection to same-sex relationships or legalised unions, but expropriating the word "married" so that its traditional meaning is lost is another matter.
Rob Davies
Point Lonsdale, Vic

I have been in a male gay relationship for 31 years and my partner and I both agree that marriage is a binding commit-ment between male and female. How I would have preferred to be born a heterosexual and to be able to have had children of my own, but I recognise they are my wants only, without considera-tion for the child. I believe that a child needs that father and mother parenting role model to have the opportunity to achieve the best for their life. Same-sex parenting must surely have a confusing influence on a child's development.
Roger Phillips
Adelaide, SA

It is wonderful that couples, gay or straight, who are unable to conceive children naturally have the opportunity to become parents but please consider the rights and feelings of their offspring. They may not want to know their full identity now but I can assure you they will at some time in the future. Surely it is everyone's basic human right to know their full identity.
Bronwyn Vincent
Macgregor, ACT

Labels: families, G.L.B.T., marriage, morality, parenthood

4. "Gays vow respect in marriage debate"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/gays-vow-respect-in-marriage-debate/story-e6frg6nf-1225997089933

Labels: G.L.B.T., marriage, morality

5. Blog comments by me

Two which I've submitted at Joshua's blog here and here, and this one at Terra's blog:

Cardinal Pole said...

"[Felix is] disconcerted by the lack of fairness in referring to the SSPX.

"As whenn Father Gerald says that "the Lefebvre group stresses Latin for the Mass ...", trivialising their actual concerns."

I agree that Father trvialises the S.S.P.X.'s concerns about the N.O.M. Isn't Msgr. Lefebvre on record as saying something like that if the T.L.M. had simply been translated into the vernacular without any other modification then the S.S.P.X. could not justifiably have rejected such a Mass? (I don't ask that rhetorically; is my recollection accurate, and if so where might it be verified?)

February 1, 2011 2:39 AM
Your comment has been saved and will be visible after blog owner approval.
[http://australiaincognita.blogspot.com/2011/01/just-call-me-catholic-please.html]

I address the questions which I've asked there to my readers here, too.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. John Bosco, Confessor, A.D. 2011

Notes: Tuesday-Wednesday, January 18-19, 2011

1. "British gay couple turned away from B&B win discrimination case"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/british-gay-couple-turned-away-from-bb-win-discrimination-case/story-fn3dxity-1225990668968

Labels: discrimination, G.L.B.T.

2. Ms Tankard Reist on surrogacy

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/gestational-carrier-is-an-ugly-term/story-e6frg6zo-1225990595552

Labels: parenthood, surrogacy

3. "Abortion Has Caused 300K Breast Cancer Deaths Since Roe"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35595

Labels: abortion, cancer, health

4. Dr. Peters and others on the obligation on clerics to be celibate and/or continent

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/01/continence-and-married-deaconspriests/

Dr. Peters has posted at his website a full, searchable P.D.F. version of his Studia Canonica article "Canonical considerations on diaconal continence” (previously only the abstract, which I have brought to your attention already in item 2 of this post, was available there):

http://www.canonlaw.info/a_deacons.htm

Unfortunately I do not have time to read it yet, though.

Labels: celibacy, Deacons, Divine positive law, Ecclesiastical law, Edward Peters, Priesthood

5. "Row over HIV health cash"

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/row-over-hiv-health-cash-20110115-19rvu.html?skin=text-only

Excerpts:

A BITTER row has erupted in Sydney's gay community after a group of prominent activists accused the state's leading homosexual health service of squandering millions of dollars in taxpayers' money.

Gay rights campaigner Gary Burns, HIV lobbyist Shayne Chester and journalist Peter Hackney have demanded the state government "demolish" ACON, formerly known as the AIDS Council of NSW.

The trio alleged the service, which specialises in HIV prevention, care and support, received $12.6 million in government funding last year but spent only $800,000 on programs and services. In a scathing attack, the group dubbed the organisation a "gravy train" and called on Premier Kristina Keneally to hand back ACON's work to NSW Health.

[...] Mr Chester said NSW had had high rates of HIV infection for more than a decade, and this was compounded by an increase in unprotected casual sex among gay men.

"Why is this happening?" he asked. "Because ACON, which is chartered with HIV education and prevention, is failing us."

[...] In NSW cases involving HIV infection peaked in the mid-1980s, with 1636 diagnoses reported in 1987. Since then rates have dropped dramatically, with 327 new cases recorded in 2009, although that is a slight increase from 323 in 2008.

Labels: ACON, G.L.B.T., H.I.V./A.I.D.S., health, vice

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of Sts. Marius, Martha, Audifax, and Abachum, Martyrs, and of St. Canute, King, Martyr, A.D. 2011

Notes: Thursday-Monday, January 13-17, 2011

1. Some figures on attitudes of mothers towards paid work

From the on-line version of an article which expands on a shorter article which I read in the Sydney Daily Telegraph last week:

... a British survey has found nearly two-thirds of women would love to find a husband with a bigger pay packet than theirs to allow them to care for their kids full time.

The YouGov survey of 922 women found 55 per cent of respondents would like to be home with their children full time if money were not an issue.

And 60 per cent said they felt pressured by society to go out and work.

[...] "Research evidence consistently shows most mothers would prefer not to have competing demands of family work and paid jobs," Dr [Catherine] Hakim said.

Her report arrives as the biggest Australian survey of parents in decades has found a third of women would like to work less, and two-thirds thought working made them less effective as a parent.

But only about 15 per cent of women could afford to be at home full time because their partner earned enough money to support them.

The Australian Institute of Family Studies' Growing Up in Australia study of 10,000 children and their parents shows two-thirds of mothers with four to eight-year-olds worked 20 to 30 hours a week.

Two thirds of these women enjoyed work and thought it made them a good role model for their kids, but they didn't always find it compatible with family life, and would prefer to work less.

[...] Jenny Baxter, Australian Institute of Family Studies senior research fellow, said women might like the idea of being at home full-time, especially if they had young children.

"But many women are highly educated and like working, and would worry about financial dependency given thehigh rate of relationship breakdown," Ms Baxter said.
[http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/mothers-hanker-for-husbands-of-wealth/story-fn6bmg6l-1225985375979]

Labels: families, parenthood, social trends, work

2. Some observations about Mme. Le Pen

If I'm not mistaken, Msgr. Lefebvre regarded M. Jean-Marie Le Pen as the 'least-worst' altervative among French politicians with realistic chances of electoral success. I'm not sure that he would have the same regard for M. Le Pen's daughter and likely successor as leader of the National Front:

She has campaigned against immigration and Brussels but favours a woman's right to have an abortion. She also advocates the return of the death penalty. In a more sober style than her father she has denounced “fundamentalist Catholics” and “those obsessed by the Holocaust”.

“Marine Le Pen portrays herself as a lawyer, a mother, twice-divorced, very liberal on issues like abortion or homosexuality,” said Sylvain Crepon, a sociologist at West-Nanterre University.

“She can woo the working and middle classes, who are worried about crime and immigration and who used to see the National Front as too conservative.”
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/daughter-to-succeed-french-far-right-leader-jean-marie-le-pen/story-e6frg6so-1225988872315]

Labels: Marine Le Pen

3. An interesting discussion at Fr. Zuhlsdorf's blog

With some suprising contributions, such as the first red-coloured interpolation in this comment, by Fr. Zuhlsdorf:

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/01/sspx-bp-fellay-criticizes-benedict-xvi-about-assisi-meeting/#comments

Labels: John Zuhlsdorf, Papacy, theology

4. Dr. Sudlow is blogging again

http://thesensiblebond.blogspot.com/2010/08/sensible-bond-returns.html

Labels: blogs, Brian Sudlow

5. "Ha'aretz says U.S. officials face 'pro-Israel' background check"

http://walt.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/12/04/haaretz_says_us_officials_face_pro_israel_background_check

(brought to my attention by this AQ comment)

Labels: State of Israel

6. Cardinal Pell and the so-called Catholic Charismatic Renewal (C.C.R.)

I was interested to read the following in Msgr. Coleridge's eulogy for the late Lord Bishop of Sandhurst (may he rest in peace):

A sign that things were changing in the Church came when Archbishop Pell chose Joe to be spiritual director of the seminary, an appointment which surprised some who either didn’t know Joe or who underestimated him.
[http://www.dow.org.au/news/death-of-bishop-joe-grech]

I did not know that Cardinal Pell endorsed the C.C.R. so strongly as to appoint one of its major local figures to such a position.

Labels: C.C.R., George Pell

7. Ms Legge on so-called gay marriage

Excerpts (I don't have time to comment on them, unfortunately, so I'm just saving here for future reference the excerpts of most interest to me):

... But when a son or a daughter or a brother or a sister or a niece or a nephew turns out to be gay there’s an inevitable mellowing of suspicion and prejudice. Is there a grandparent on the planet who would spurn a soft, warm bundle of kinship, however tangled the threads?

[...] Days after Liberal frontbencher Malcolm Turnbull spoke against gay marriage, he began to equivocate. He now acknowledges he’s “open” to persuasion. ...

[...] That’s how Tasmanian gay activist Rodney Croome explains the desire for marriage amongst a younger cohort he calls “the Family Law Act generation”. ... The institution of marriage has evolved through no-fault divorce and the rise of de facto relationships. ...

[...] Marriage matters to ["Alex Grimshaw, 30, spokesman for Australian Marriage Equality"]: “It’s important for equality, the symbolism, because it allows us to be more comfortable with who we are.”

[...] Frank Bates, emeritus Professor of Law at Newcastle University, can’t see what’s wrong with another shift to account for the rise of same-sex relationships. Originally seen as a means of securing property rights, marriage became invested with romantic and emotional baggage in the 19th century. “There’s nothing magical about the Marriage Act – it’s just another piece of legislation,” says Bates. ...

[...] Concerns at how these offspring will fare may not be resolved until a generation are well into adulthood. A US study that followed 78 children raised by lesbian mothers for 17 years reported last June that these adolescents demonstrated healthy psychological adjustment. But critics have challenged the veracity of these results. The academic arena is so heavily politicised that one Australian academic who has reviewed the scientific literature for state parliamentary reviews examining same-sex couple adoption now begs anonymity because of the abuse he’s copped for pointing out methodological flaws in the research. He believes work on the children raised in these families is embryonic and suffers from bad science and bias.

Little is known about the impact of donor anonymity on children’s welfare. Much depends on the individual personality of the child and the stability of their adult relationships. There is no rulebook; each couple devises strategies to suit their needs. Australian researcher Dr Ruth McNair shares a three-year-old son, Sam, with her lesbian partner. Sam knows the identity of the man who helped his mothers conceive. The man visits from time to time. Sam calls him by his first name. Eilis Hughes of the Melbourne based Rainbow Families Council says her daughter Drew enjoys frequent contact with the biological father she calls “Dad”. The Mok children can access the identity of their donor father when they turn 17. The Luiciani-Crouts say they have chosen anonymity to limit problems and confusion for their daughter. The Fergusons were concerned to avoid donor intervention down the track.

[...] The couples I interviewed try very hard to bring a mix of genders into their family circle so that male or female family and friends counter the imbalance in their household. Megan and Leanne Ferguson held a “naming ceremony” for baby James where guests were invited to contribute to his lifelong education. ...
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/we-are-family/story-e6frg8h6-1225986408817]

Labels: families, G.L.B.T., marriage, morality, parenthood, social trends

Feast of St. Anthony, Abbot, A.D. 2011

Notes: Tuesday-Wednesday, January 11-12, 2011

1. Mr. Nalliah on the Queensland floods

Apparently Catch the Fire Ministries is a 'Christian Zionist' organisation:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/on-kevs-head/story-e6frgdk6-1225985863619
http://catchthefire.com.au/blog/2011/01/08/are-the-qld-floods-the-result-of-kevin-rudd-speaking-against-israel/#more-4666
(the latter link found in the combox at this post by Mr. Muehlenberg)

Labels: C.T.F.M., State of Israel

2. "‘Mother,’ ‘Father’ Changing to ‘Parent One,’ ‘Parent Two’ on [U.S.] Passport Applications"

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/01/more-social-engineering-passport-applications/

Labels: families, G.L.B.T., parenthood

3. H.H. The Pope on religious liberty

There are good points and bad points in this speech, though unfortunately I don't have time to explain point by point the good and the bad. Anyway, here are the excerpts from the Vatican Information Service (V.I.S.) daily e-mail bulletin item on the speech which (excerpts) I regard as notably good or bad (if you're familiar with the Traditional doctrine on these matters then you'll probably know which is which):

HOLY FATHER'S ANNUAL ADDRESS TO THE DIPLOMATIC CORPS

VATICAN CITY, 10 JAN 2011 (VIS) - This morning in the Sala Regia of the Vatican Apostolic Palace, Pope Benedict pronounced his traditional annual address to members of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See. ...

[...] Ample extracts of the Holy Father's address are give below:

"Humanity throughout history, in its beliefs and rituals, demonstrates a constant search for God and 'these forms of religious expression are so universal that one may well call man a religious being'. The religious dimension is an undeniable and irrepressible feature of man's being and acting, the measure of the fulfilment of his destiny and of the building up of the community to which he belongs. Consequently, when the individual himself or those around him neglect or deny this fundamental dimension, imbalances and conflicts arise at all levels, both personal and interpersonal".

[...] "The particular influence of a given religion in a nation ought never to mean that citizens of another religion can be subject to discrimination in social life or, even worse, that violence against them can be tolerated. In this regard, it is important for inter-religious dialogue to favour a common commitment to recognising and promoting the religious freedom of each person and community. ...

"In a number of countries, on the other hand, a constitutionally recognised right to religious freedom exists, yet the life of religious communities is in fact made difficult and at times even dangerous because the legal or social order is inspired by philosophical and political systems which call for strict control, if not a monopoly, of the State over society. Such inconsistencies must end, so that believers will not find themselves torn between fidelity to God and loyalty to their country. I ask in particular that Catholic communities be everywhere guaranteed full autonomy of organisation and the freedom to carry out their mission, in conformity with international norms and standards in this sphere. My thoughts turn once again to the Catholic community of mainland China and its pastors, who are experiencing a time of difficulty and trial. I would also like to offer a word of encouragement to the authorities of Cuba, a country which in 2010 celebrated seventy-five years of uninterrupted diplomatic relations with the Holy See, that the dialogue happily begun with the Church may be reinforced and expanded.

"Turning our gaze from East to West, we find ourselves faced with other kinds of threats to the full exercise of religious freedom. I think in the first place of countries which accord great importance to pluralism and tolerance, but where religion is increasingly being marginalised. There is a tendency to consider religion, all religion, as something insignificant, alien or even destabilising to modern society, and to attempt by different means to prevent it from having any influence on the life of society. Christians are even required at times to act in the exercise of their profession with no reference to their religious and moral convictions, and even in opposition to them, as for example where laws are enforced limiting the right to conscientious objection on the part of health care or legal professionals.

"In this context, one can only be gratified by the adoption by the Council of Europe last October of a resolution protecting the right to conscientious objection on the part of medical personnel vis-a-vis certain acts which gravely violate the right to life, such as abortion.

[...] "Continuing my reflection, I cannot remain silent about another attack on the religious freedom of families in certain European countries which mandate obligatory participation in courses of sexual or civic education which allegedly convey a neutral conception of the person and of life, yet in fact reflect an anthropology opposed to faith and to right reason".

"On this solemn occasion, allow me to state clearly several principles which inspire the Holy See, together with the whole Catholic Church, in its activity within the intergovernmental international organisations for the promotion of full respect for the religious freedom of all. First, the conviction that one cannot create a sort of scale of degrees of religious intolerance. Unfortunately, such an attitude is frequently found, and it is precisely acts of discrimination against Christians which are considered less grave and less worthy of attention on the part of governments and public opinion. At the same time, there is a need to reject the dangerous notion of a conflict between the right to religious freedom and other human rights, thus disregarding or denying the central role of respect for religious freedom in the defence and protection of fundamental human dignity. Even less justifiable are attempts to counter the right of religious freedom with other alleged new rights which, while actively promoted by certain sectors of society and inserted in national legislation or in international directives, are nonetheless merely the expression of selfish desires lacking a foundation in authentic human nature. Finally, it seems unnecessary to point out that an abstract proclamation of religious freedom is insufficient: this fundamental rule of social life must find application and respect at every level and in all areas".

[...] "I would like once more to state forcefully that religion does not represent a problem for society, that it is not a source of discord or conflict. I would repeat that the Church seeks no privileges, nor does she seek to intervene in areas unrelated to her mission, but simply to exercise the latter with freedom. I invite everyone to acknowledge the great lesson of history: 'How can anyone deny the contribution of the world's great religions to the development of civilisation? The sincere search for God has led to greater respect for human dignity. Christian communities, with their patrimony of values and principles, have contributed much to making individuals and peoples aware of their identity and their dignity, the establishment of democratic institutions and the recognition of human rights and their corresponding duties. Today too, in an increasingly globalised society, Christians are called, not only through their responsible involvement in civic, economic and political life but also through the witness of their charity and faith, to offer a valuable contribution to the laborious and stimulating pursuit of justice, integral human development and the right ordering of human affairs'.
[...]
CD/ VIS 20110110 (2500)

See also the the first two comments, by "Centristian" and "Jason Keener", respectively, in the combox at Fr. Zuhlsdorf's post on this speech.

Labels: Benedict XVI. Ratzinger, Church and State, Confessional State, morality, religious liberty

4. Cardinal Tauran on, among other things, religious liberty

This is an extract from an old V.I.S. daily e-mail bulletin item which I've finally got round to posting at AQ:

EIGHTH GENERAL CONGREGATION

VATICAN CITY, 15 OCT 2010 (VIS) - The Eighth General Congregation of the Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops was held this morning in the Synod Hall in the presence of the Holy Father and of 168 Synod Fathers. ...

Extracts from some of the Synod Father's speeches are given below:

[...] CARDINAL JEAN-LOUIS TAURAN, PRESIDENT OF THE PONTIFICAL COUNCIL FOR INTER-RELIGIOUS DIALOGUE. "The Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops represents an opportunity and a challenge. An opportunity, because it could lead to better understanding: (1) that the unresolved conflicts in the region are not caused by religious reasons, as evinced by the presence among us of representatives of Judaism and of Islam; (2) of the urgency for a three-way reflection (Jews, Christians and Muslims) on the place of religions in Middle Eastern societies. It is also a challenge, to give Middle Eastern Christians concrete guidelines. Let us not be shy in reclaiming not only freedom of worship, but also religious freedom. Society and State should neither force a person to act against his conscience, nor hinder him from acting according to his conscience. Let us invest more in schools and universities, which are attended by both Christians and Muslims. They are indispensable places of co-existence. Let us ask ourselves if we are doing enough, at the level of the local Churches, to encourage our Christians to stay: housing, tuition, healthcare. We cannot expect everything from others". [...]
SE/ VIS 20101015 (950)
[bold type in the original, my italics and ellipses]

Labels: Dignitatis Humanæ, Jean-Louis Tauran, morality, religious liberty

Reginaldvs Cantvar
12.I.2011

Notes: Tuesday-Thursday, January 4-6, 2011

1. "Cardinal George Pell agrees to meet gay marriage campaigners"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/cardinal-george-pell-agrees-to-meet-gay-marriage-campaigners/story-e6frg6nf-1225981271561

Labels: G.L.B.T., George Pell, marriage, morality

2. "S. THOMAE DE AQUINO OPERA OMNIA" (Latin)

http://www.corpusthomisticum.org/iopera.html

Labels: morality, philosophy, St. Thomas Aquinas, theology

3. Mr. Kent on Ms Keneally's behaviour at press conferences

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/kristina-keneallys-painful-lesson-in-how-to-say-nothing/story-e6frezz0-1225981904591

Interesting mainly for its observations on how 'sound bite' culture degrades press conferences:

Over the next 30 minutes, explaining the legal advice in her hand, Keneally repeats the phrase "independent and non-political advice" eight times.

[...] She says it often enough that it begins echoing in the subconscious, the intention all along. She says it even when the question didn't ask for it. Or even require it.

Indeed, she says what she wants, over and over again, because Kristina Keneally realises one of the great truths of the political press conference.

Repeat only your message - ignoring all legitimate answers to all valid and reasonable questions - and reporters are unable to quote anything else.

The wisdom of this is revealed later, when reporters must cut their 90-second news report - and what else can be reported other than her stage-managed message? Her refusal to answer all legitimate questions is lost in the need to report what she did actually say.

Labels: politicians

4. The latest figures on Australians' support for euthanasia

http://www.smh.com.au/national/support-steadfast-for-death-to-ease-pain-20110105-19gau.html?skin=text-only

Labels: euthanasia, morality

5. On Muphry's (sic) Law

From the last item in today's edition of the Herald's "Column 8":

Margaret Ruwoldt, of Leopold, Victoria, adds to the Laws Of Inevitable Error discussion of recent days: '' I'm fairly certain that snortee Alan Lloyd on Thursday meant to refer to Muphry's Law, defined in 1992 by John Bangsund of the Society of Editors (Victoria). Under Muphry's Law, if you write anything criticising editing or proofreading, there will be a fault of some kind in what you have written.'' ...
[http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/column-8/column-8-20110105-19g6s.html?skin=text-only]

Labels: Muphry's Law

6. Mr. Donnelly on Sir Elton John's procurement of his (Sir Elton's) pseudo-son

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/zachary-may-feel-like-eltons-motherless-child/story-e6frg6zo-1225981951351

Of particular interest to me were these sections:

One Australian who has given the issue of artificial reproductive technology careful thought is Margaret Somerville. Somerville teaches at McGill University in Canada. Earlier this year she presented a paper, "Children's Human Rights to Natural Biological Origins and Family Structure", at a symposium in Slovakia. ...

[...] One Australian who has given the issue of artificial reproductive technology careful thought is Margaret Somerville. Somerville teaches at McGill University in Canada. Earlier this year she presented a paper, "Children's Human Rights to Natural Biological Origins and Family Structure", at a symposium in Slovakia.

Labels: families, G.L.B.T., Margaret Somerville, morality, parenthood

7. On Japanese immigration policy

Could someone please tell me whether it is true that

Japan forbids permanent immigration in order to preserve its homogeneous culture.
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/arbitrary-penalties/comments-fn558imw-1225981977332]

Labels: Japan

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord, A.D. 2011

Notes: Saturday-Wednesday, December 25-29, 2010

1. "[A]mong lesbian couples, generally both women take on a mothering role"

As one would expect. But who takes on the fathering role?

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/gay-parents-are-more-equal-than-others-20101228-199bm.html?skin=text-only

2. "Two of Russia's biggest spy agencies are at war with one another as attempts are made to merge them and create an intelligence service modelled on the Soviet-era KGB, according to a Russian intelligence expert"

http://www.smh.com.au/world/falling-out-among-spies-20101227-198j8.html?skin=text-only

3. Two letters from yesterday's Herald: One on defamation law in Australia, the other on traditional Christmas decorating

The former:

Facts on truth

Wayne Lawson (Letters, December 27) is correct that freedom of speech is not enshrined in the constitution, but substantial truth has been an absolute defence in defamation law since January 2006.

Geoff Holland Faculty of Law, University of Technology, Sydney
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/hurdles-on-the-road-to-decriminalisation-20101227-198f8.html?skin=text-only]

The latter:

Undeck the halls

Commercial interests have completely distorted the dates and extent of the Christmas season for their own purpose, which is to encourage increased spending. No wonder the public is confused, and I don't doubt that some no longer remember that, properly speaking, the season runs from
Christmas Day to Epiphany, January 6 - 12 days, no more.

Decorations should be put up on Christmas Eve and taken down on January 7. Ignore what the shops do; if householders want to do it, we can at least get it right.

Mona Finley Darlington Point
[Ibid.]

4. Mr. Katter on his ancestry:

''[His grandparents] were very religious people - there wouldn't have been too much playing up - my grandfather's uncle was head of the Maronite Church - that's almost equivalent to the pope.''
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/who-do-they-think-they-are-20101225-197fv.html?skin=text-only]

5. Dr. Daintree on, among other things, references to Christianity and religion in the draft national curriculum for history:

Yet the compilers of the draft curriculum have chosen the simplest strategy of all: deliberate, pointed, tendentious and outrageous silence. In its 20 pages, the draft ancient history curriculum mentions religion twice. There is no reference to Christianity anywhere in the document.

The draft modern history curriculum is 30 pages long. Christianity is simply never mentioned, at least not explicitly. The word religion appears twice, the first occurrence in the context of Indian history, the second in the context of Asian and African decolonisation. However the precise phrase in which it is found discloses the agenda of the compilers: "The effect of racism, religion and European cultures."

This, surely, is an oblique mention of Christianity and a judgment upon it at the same time.
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/christianity-has-role-in-learning/story-e6frg6zo-1225977422170]

6. R.I.P. The Lord Bishop of Sandhurst

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/church-mourns-exceptional-bishop/story-fn3dxity-1225977402274

7. "Watch out for Russian wild card in Asia-Pacific"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/watch-out-for-russian-wild-card-in-asia-pacific/story-e6frg6zo-1225977417402

8. "Church free to ban gay foster parents after NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal ruling"

This is, in several respects, and interesting article:

CHURCH groups are free to discriminate against homosexuals after a landmark judgment in which a tribunal ruled religious charities are allowed to ban gay foster parents.

The ruling, made in the NSW Administrative Decisions Tribunal, has been hailed by the Catholic Church but has outraged civil libertarians, who are demanding religions no longer be exempt from anti-discrimination laws if they receive public money.

[...] Even the tribunal itself, whose judgment came down in favour of the ban, said it was effectively bound to reach the decision because of the very broad exemptions in the Anti-Discrimination Act relating to religious groups.

And, it went as far as suggesting that Parliament may wish to revise those laws.

The decision marks the end of a seven-year legal battle for a gay couple who attempted to become foster carers through Wesley Mission Australia but were knocked back because their lifestyle was not in keeping with the beliefs and values of Wesleyanism, a Methodist order of the Uniting Church.

The ADT initially awarded the couple $10,000 and ordered the charity to change its practices so it did not discriminate but an appeals panel set aside that decision and ordered the tribunal to reconsider the matter.

The tribunal then said it had little choice but to find that the discrimination was "in conformity" with the church's doctrine because the test in the law "is singularly undemanding". [...]
[bold type in the original,
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/church-free-to-ban-gay-foster-parents-after-nsw-administrative-decisions-tribunal-ruling/story-e6freuy9-1225976419514]

Unless the N.S.W. Government has already exempted religious adoption agencies from having to offer their services to same-sex couples (I can't remember whether it has or not), this ruling could have (favourable) implications for the Government deciding whether or not to grant such an exemption. For more on this, see here.

For The Australian's editorial on the ruling, see here.

9. This generation of youngsters to have a lower average I.Q. than previous generations?

I was interested to read the following in the Sydney Daily Telegraph the other day:

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons trauma committee deputy chair Professor Danny Cass said the level of heavy drinking in society would lead to brain damage among this generation.

"There's going to be a group from this generation who will have lower IQs," Professor Cass said.

"They are lowering their IQ by drinking at a young age, when their brains are still developing."
[http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/kebab-stall-a-violent-hot-spot/story-e6freuy9-1225976427236]

But then, most generations have probably had such a group. As one commenter says in that article's combox,

Steve R of Sydney Posted at 7:44 AM December 27, 2010

Its always been the same. Just more media coverage these days.

Comment 4 of 33

10. Of Foucault pendulums

An interesting item from the other day's edition of the Herald's "Column 8" section:

Here's a concoction of science and dark deeds to mull over. ''During the 1954 solar eclipse Maurice Allais reported unusual motion of a Foucault pendulum (a device that demonstrates the rotation of the Earth),'' we are told by Joe Wolfe, of the University of NSW School of Physics. ''Since then, a number of different or null effects have been reported for Foucault pendulums at eclipses. One possible explanation is that, during an eclipse, physicists are usually outside observing it rather than indoors watching to see whether anyone tampers with a pendulum. The University of NSW School of Physics has a Foucault pendulum in the foyer. On the day of the lunar eclipse last Tuesday this pendulum suffered unusual motion: it vanished, leaving a suspending wire that appears to have been cut. So, if your Christmas stocking contained a 60cm varnished sphere of jarrah wood, please alert the school of physics. We would like it back.''
[http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/column-8/column-8-20101226-197tr.html?skin=text-only]

Reginaldvs Cantvar

Feast of St. Thomas of Canterbury, Bishop, Martyr, A.D. 2010