Notes: Wednesday, November 30-Tuesday, December 6, 2011 (part 1 of 2)

1. Several recent articles on or relating to so-called Gay marriage

1.1 Dr. Walter on conscience votes and religion in politics

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/conscience-votes-corrupt-our-political-system-20111129-1o4tr.html?skin=text-only

I would like to write a rebuttal of that article but I don't have time, so I just want to consider one point here: Dr. Walter concludes by writing that "to judge legislation according to the requirements of religious belief is to avoid the discipline of public life, and we should loudly and clearly call this abuse of office". Now, how does Dr. Walter propose to remedy that "abuse" if the politician is, say, a Catholic who takes seriously the teaching of St. Pius X. in §24 of Pascendi?

Labels: Church and State, morality, secularism

1.2 Prof. Gaita on so-called Gay marriage

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/to-reject-gay-marriage-is-to-be-blind-to-our-common-humanity-20111130-1o6v7.html?skin=text-only

I log that as an example of the befuddlement which afflicts even the more learned advocates of so-called Gay marriage.

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

1.3 "the Queensland parliament last [week] passed a bill that legalised civil unions for same-sex couples"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/in-depth/alp-conference-set-to-endorse-same-sex-marriage/story-fnba0rxe-1226210968062

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/queensland-has-passed-a-bill-allowing-civil-unions-but-some-labor-mps-are-calling-for-gay-marriage/story-e6frgczx-1226210962614

Labels: civil partnerships, G.L.B.T., Queensland

1.4 Msgr. Nichols on "civil partnerships"

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/11/the-archbisop-of-westminster-on-civil-unions/

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39895

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=29311

Labels: civil partnerships, G.L.B.T., marriage, morality, Vincent Nichols

1.5 "Labor voted overwhelmingly [last Saturday] to adopt marriage equality as its official policy - but granted a conscience vote to its MPs to avoid a damaging split"

http://www.smh.com.au/national/i-do-labor-to-gay-marriage-20111203-1ocpc.html?skin=text-only

Labels: Australian Labor, G.L.B.T., marriage

1.6 Mr. Wallace on the Gay lifestyle:

In demanding more money be spent on health for their community, Canadian gay activists have claimed that the system was homophobic in not taking into account: "lower life expectancy than the average Canadian, suicide, higher rates of substance abuse, depression, inadequate access to care and HIV-AIDS ... all kinds of health issues that are endemic to our community". No amount of sharp video promotion by GetUp! can make this lifestyle normal in light of its own facts.

The activists, of course, attributed all the negatives of the lifestyle to bullying or homophobia, including that a homosexual man has a life expectancy some 20 years less than the average male.

However the fact that he has 25-26 times the chance of contracting HIV compared with a heterosexual man must surely have more to do with it, as would the acknowledged higher incidence of drug abuse.

If our schools are concerned about discouraging smoking for its 7-10 year shortening of life, how can we in all honesty encourage a lifestyle for men that shortens it on average by double that? But promotion of the lifestyle this has become.
[ellipsis in the original,
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/its-wrong-to-promote-a-dangerous-lifestyle/story-e6frgd0x-1226212590213]

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

1.7 "Same sex adoption is not a game"

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

(That came to my attention via this Cath Pews post.)

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

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

Notes: Wednesday, July 13-Tuesday, July 19, 2011 (part 2 of 2)

6. "Notitiae ["the official journal of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship"] Responses online"

http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/07/notitiae-responses-online/

http://notitiae.ipsissima-verba.org/

Labels: liturgy, Roman Curia

7. "The Greens, to be to be launched in Melbourne on July 21, is the first book to provide a practical analysis of the wide-ranging [Australian] Greens policies"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/at-last-a-thorough-probe-into-what-drives-the-greens-machine/story-fn59niix-1226095160826

A revised version of one of that book's chapters, by Dr. Kevin Donnelly, was published at The Punch last week. Of particular interest were its last half-dozen or so paragraphs; this is the last of them:

Given that all Australian schools, under the banner of the ALP’s education revolution, will be made to teach a national curriculum after 2012, it should not surprise if the Greens pressure the Gillard Government to incorporate a positive view of LGBTI lifestyles in the new curriculum.[http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/green-with-class-envy-and-bent-on-change/]

Labels: Australian Labor, education, G.L.B.T., Greens

8. Dr. Feser on "some of the non-serious objections" to the cosmological argument for God's Existence

http://edwardfeser.blogspot.com/2011/07/so-you-think-you-understand.html

Labels: God's Existence, philosophy, theology

9. "Studies estimate between 20,000 and 40,000 polygamists live in the heavily Mormon state [of Utah]"

http://www.smh.com.au/world/no-big-love-lost-in-polygamists-civil-rights-claim-20110715-1hhp8.html?skin=text-only

Labels: C.J.C.L.D.S., polyamory

10. "Russians launch space super-telescope": "The main point is that Russia is returning to scientific programmes in space after a long break"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/russians-launch-space-telescope/story-e6frg6so-1226097482531

Labels: Russia

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Vincent de Paul, Confessor, A.D. 2011

Notes: Thursday, February 24-Friday, February 25, 2011

1. Prof. Putnam's findings on the consequences of increased diversity in society

Here is an excerpt from a comment at The Australian's website:

Geoff of Sydney Posted at 10:55 AM February 23, 2011

When has Malcolm Fraser got anything right? "Multiculturalism is about diversity, not division -- it is about interaction not isolation." Yet Robert Putnam's extensive study on "diversity" policy has shown (against his personal beliefs) that it does foster disharmony and isolation within a society. ...
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/talking-point/comments-fn558imw-1226010350081]

You can read more about those findings at Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Putnam

Labels: multiculturalism, Robert Putnam, social trends

2. Latest developments in Australia and the U.S. regarding so-called gay marriage

2.1 "Marriage law loses Obama support"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/marriage-law-loses-obama-support/story-e6frg6so-1226011578827
http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/lifematters/gay-marriage-move-splits-congress-20110224-1b77k.html?skin=text-only
http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36169
http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/02/obama-administration-ceases-defense-of-natural-true-marriage/

Labels: Barack Obama, G.L.B.T., marriage, morality, U.S.A.

2.2 "LABOR must win back voters lost to the Greens by advocating stronger action on climate change and supporting gay marriage, according to a secret internal review of the party's performance"

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/politics-news/labor-elders-tell-the-party-to-go-green-to-recover-lost-votes/story-fn59nqld-1226011658891

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

3. "The Alta Vendita [and how it has succeeded just as it had planned]"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36173

Labels: Freemasons, Vatican II

4. ""Womanpriest" renounces supposed ordination"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=36165
http://wdtprs.com/blog/2011/02/wdtprs-highest-kudos-to-norma-jean-coon/

Labels: Norma Jean Coon, womenpriests

Reginaldvs Cantvar
25.II.2011

Notes: Thursday, December 2, 2010

1. Two more articles on 'gay marriage'

http://www.smh.com.au/environment/energy-smart/gillard-tries-to-extinguish-factions-nuclear-push-20101201-18grm.html?skin=text-only
http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-handful-of-seats-dictating-the-political-agenda/

2. "Moscow warns of arms race unless NATO does deal on missile shield"

http://www.smh.com.au/world/moscow-warns-of-arms-race-unless-nato-does-deal-on-missile-shield-20101201-18gp8.html?skin=text-only

3. Mr. Hutt on the St James Ethics Centre and its State-school ethics classes

http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/whos-teaching-the-ethics-teachers-getting-their-ethics/

4. Cardinal Bertone on religious liberty

I would be interested to learn what the ellipsis in the third paragraph replaced:

CARDINAL BERTONE ADDRESSES OSCE SUMMIT IN KAZAKHSTAN

VATICAN CITY, 1 DEC 2010 (VIS) - Made public today was the address delivered by Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. before the summit meeting of heads of State and government of the fifty-six members of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), being held in Astana, Kazakhstan, on 1 and 2 December.

Cardinal Bertone affirmed that the Holy See "does not cease to reiterate that the aim of States should be to protect and respect that human dignity which unites the entire human family. This unity is rooted in four fundamental principles: the centrality of the human person, of solidarity, of subsidiarity and of the common good. These principles harmonise well with the overall concept of security, which is the foundation of our organisation, and are a constant reminder which the political community must bear in mind".

"The CSCE and the OSCE have always had the promotion and protection of human rights in their respective agendas", said Cardinal Bertone. "These fundamental freedoms include the right to religious freedom. ... Developments of recent years and the progress made in drafting the various texts adopted by the OSCE show, with increasingly clarity, that religious freedom can exist in different social systems".

"Closely related to the denial of religious freedom is religiously-motivated intolerance and discrimination, especially against Christians. It is well documented that Christians are the most discriminated and persecuted religious group. Over 200 million of them, belonging to different denominations, live in difficult conditions because of legal and cultural structures".

[...] Finally the cardinal underlined the ongoing validity of the "ten principles" of the Helsinki Conference, stressing that "the commitments agreed by the OSCE are strong and noble. They are supported by a robust mandate and by the principle of consent. The Holy See reaffirms these commitments and encourages the organisation to stand firm on them".
SS/ VIS 20101201 (420)

5. More from Prof. Altman on gay strategy: The nexus between 'gay rights' and 'multiculturalism'

On several occasions, Mr. Muehlenberg has quoted at his blog the following observation by Australian 'gay rights' activist Prof. Dennis Altman:

The greatest single victory of the gay movement over the past decade has been to shift the debate from behavior to identity, thus forcing opponents into a position where they can be seen as attacking the civil rights of homosexual citizens rather than attacking specific and (as they see it) antisocial behavior.
[http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2008/05/01/on-relationship-recognition/]

In a book review in late 2008, Prof. Altman elaborated a little, in passing, on how that "shift" occurred successfully:

Sharman was of the generation [the person to whom Prof. Altman refers "[grew] up gay in the '50s"] that saw homosexuality move from a hidden and illegal activity to a social movement and now as yet another identity within multicultural Australia. He stood aside from gay politics and his autobiography rarely mentions the political explicitly. Yet his work has always been of political significance in the broader sense and Blood and Tinsel reminds us how much of his work helped us reimagine sexuality and gender.
[my emphasis,
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/anna-bemrose-robert-helpmann-a-servant-of-art/story-e6frg8no-1111118266435]

Interesting the way in which the rise of the Sodomites' League ties in with 'multiculturalism'.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Bibiana, Virgin, Martyr, A.D. 2010

Notes: Thursday, November 18, 2010

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

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

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

1.2 "Gillard clears way for gay marriage debate"

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

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

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

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

2. A couple of recent developments regarding Russia

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

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

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

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

3. Blog comments by me

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

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

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

Notes: Tuesday-Wednesday, November 16-17, 2010

1. H.R.H. Prince William of Wales and Miss Middleton have become engaged

http://www.princeofwales.gov.uk/newsandgallery/news/his_royal_highness_prince_william_of_wales_and_miss_catherin_77816924.html

See also
http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/people/finally-a-wedding-date-for-kate-20101116-17w23.html?skin=text-only
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/prince-william-and-kate-middleton-to-marry-next-year/story-e6frg6so-1225954680963
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/prince-william-to-marry-kate-middleton/story-e6frg6so-1225954659190

2. Federal Labor to support Greens motion calling for M.P.s to consult their respective constituents on so-called gay marriage

http://www.smh.com.au/national/labor-mulls-change-in-policy-20101116-17vzo.html?skin=text-only
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/labor-to-back-greens-on-on-same-sex-motion/story-e6frg6nf-1225954628356

3. Cardinal Tauran on religious liberty and related things

Full text of an item from the Vatican Information Service daily e-mail bulletin:

CONCLUSIONS OF INTER-RELIGIOUS MEETING IN TEHRAN

VATICAN CITY, 16 NOV 2010 (VIS) - The Centre for Inter-Religious Dialogue of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organisation (Tehran, Iran) and the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue held their seventh colloquium in Tehran from 9 to 11 November under the joint presidency of Mohammad Baqer Khorramshad, president of the Islamic Culture and Relations Organisation, and of Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue.

At the end of the meeting the participants (seven in the delegation led by Mohammad Baqer Khorramshad and six in the delegation led by Cardinal Tauran), agreed upon the following:

(1) Believers and religious communities, based on their faith in God, have a specific role to play in society, on an equal footing with other citizens.

(2) Religion has an inherent social dimension that the State has the obligation to respect; therefore, also in the interest of society, it cannot be confined to private sphere.

(3) Believers are called to co-operate in the search for common good, on the basis of a sound relation between faith and reason.

(4) It is necessary for Christians and Muslims as well as all believers and persons of good will, to co-operate in answering modern challenges, promoting moral values, justice and peace and protecting the family, environment and natural resources.

(5) Faith, by its very nature, requires freedom. Therefore, religious freedom, as a right inherent to human dignity, must always be respected by individuals, social actors and the State. The cultural and historical background of each society which is not in contradiction with human dignity should be taken into consideration in applying this fundamental principle.

(6) Education of the young generation should be based on the search for truth, spiritual values and promotion of knowledge.

The participants also emphasised the necessity of continuing on the path of a genuine and fruitful dialogue. The next colloquium will take place in Rome in 2012.
OP/ VIS 20101116 (330)

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Gregory the Wonder Worker, Bishop, Confessor, A.D. 2010

Notes: Saturday-Monday, November 6-8, 2010

1. Interesting review of The Grand Design

The review in question was published in The Sydney Morning Herald's Spectrum supplement at the weekend, and is available on-line here. The following excerpt was remarkable:

Even if M-theory is the best candidate for a Theory of Everything, it will not, as Hawking concedes, result in anything more than a collection of unproved and unprovable hypotheses.

2. Exactly (precisely?) what I was thinking!

Here's a letter which was published on page twenty-five of today's edition of the Sydney Daily Telegraph and which points out an all-too-common grammatical error which vexes me too:

For years the signs at railway stations have warned us that steps "may be" (that is are permitted to be) slippery when wet. Finally, this ungrammatical phrase is now correct. To avoid slips on the newly refurbished Macarthur station, carpets are being laid as a safety measure. Perhaps State Rail should have warned the wet areas "might be" (this expresses possibility, not permission) slippery.
M. Chaldecott Lindfield

The four effects of law are to command ('You shall ...'), to forbid ('You shall not ...'), to permit ('You may ...'), and to punish (to trangress any of the preceding three is to incur the obligation to suffer the just penalty); see St. Thomas, Summa Theologica, Ia IIæ, Q. 92, a. 2.

3. The Stockholm Bloodbath: An episode in Scandinavian history of which I had not heard

I was interested to learn the following in the "on this day" section of the history page of today's Sydney Daily Telegraph (p. 39):

1520

The execution of more than 80 Swedish nobles and clergy, who opposed their country's invasion by Christian II of Denmark, begins in Stockholm. The dissidents are accused of heresy.

Apparently that episode is known as the Stockholm Bloodbath, about which you can read more at Wikipedia's page on it.

4. The latest development/s in Australia regarding so-called gay marriage

4.1 "Mark Arbib wants Labor to back gay marriage"
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/arbib-wants-labor-to-back-gay-marriage/story-fn59niix-1225948555751

4.2 "Powerbrokers call for gay marriage debate"
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/national/powerbrokers-call-for-gay-marriage-debate/story-e6frea8c-1225948877549

(See also the responses in The Australian's editorial and letters sections.)

5. Interesting books reviewed in the weekend papers

A Place for Truth: Leading Thinkers Explore Life's Hardest Questions
Edited by Dallas Willard
IVP Books,321pp, $27.95

[...] Delusions of Gender: The Real Science Behind Sex Differences
By Cordelia Fine
Icon Books, 338pp, $29.99
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/arts/where-faith-and-reason-meet/story-e6frg8nf-1225946773855]

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of the Four Crowned Martyrs, A.D. 2010

Notes: Thursday, September 30, 2010

An interesting fact about the application of the Statute of Westminster to Australia

Second paragraph of this letter in today's Herald:

It took a while …

Lewis Hewertson (Letters, September 29) fails to see how Australians could be compelled to fight ''for England'', since Australia received self-governance in 1901. This overlooks the fact that Australia's foreign policy (and that of Canada, New Zealand and South Africa) was controlled and directed by London by law.

The Statute of Westminster of 1931 awarded full independence to the British dominions, including in foreign policy, but the Australian government of the day did not ratify it.

Robert Menzies, declaring war on Germany in 1939, stated that Australia was at war because Britain was, ipso facto. The statute was only ratified by the Curtin government in 1942, marking the point where British and Australian interests diverged.

Hugh Sturgess Balmain
[http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/we-dont-need-an-englishman-lording-it-over-us-20100929-15x9q.html?skin=text-only]

Some figures on the prospects for children from broken homes

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/broken-homes-can-disadvantage-kids-for-life-study-finds/story-e6frg6nf-1225932001780

The latest developments regarding so-called gay marriage ...

1. "Bandt attacks [The Australian]'s coverage of [The Greens' "legislative timetable"]
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/bandt-attacks-newspapers-coverage/story-fn59niix-1225931993399

See also the editorial and the "Cut & Paste" section of today's edition of The Australian.

2. From the first link in item 1:

Yesterday, on the first full day of the new parliament, the Greens reintroduced a bill into the Senate legalising gay marriage.

3. "Gillard says no conscience vote on gay marriage"
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/09/29/3024870.htm

4. "Tasmania to recognise same-sex marriage"
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/09/29/3025417.htm?section=justin

Second paragraph of that news item:

An amendment to Tasmania's Relationship Act was passed unopposed in the state's Upper House, meaning marriages performed in countries where it's legal will now be recognised in Tasmania.

(Thanks to Terra for highlighting those last two news stories, which I didn't see covered at http://www.smh.com.au/text or http://www.theaustralian.com.au/ today.)

... and euthanasia

"Church responds to renewed euthanasia efforts"
http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=23507

First paragraph of the body of the CathNews item:

Catholic Health Australia is co-ordinating a national response to the renewed nationwide promotion of euthanasia, while the country's bishops have re-issued a submission previously made on the rights of the terminally ill.

Mr. Brent on the history, merits, and demerits of compulsory voting and compulsory voting enrolment

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

"Joshua" on "The Legend of the Leonine Prayers"

http://psallitesapienter.blogspot.com/2010/09/legend-of-leonine-prayers.html

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Jerome, Priest, Confessor, Doctor of the Church, A.D. 2010

Notes: Thursday, September 2, 2010

The latest on the N.S.W. same-sex adoption Bill

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/keneally-to-support-samesex-adoption-20100901-14nnf.html?skin=text-only

Also, a story from the other day which I seem to have missed earlier (it came to my attention via yesterday's CathNews):

"Keneally denies Greens deal on adoption"
http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/keneally-denies-greens-deal-on-adoption-20100831-14f4n.html

A 'female-to-male transsexual' on the differences between men and women

In an opinion piece in today's Herald: (warning: The article could be an occasion of sin for some readers)

[Dr. Bettina] Arndt told [the opinion piece's author, Mr. Paul Sheehan] her favourite person in [her latest] book is a transsexual, Anita Wolfe Valerio, who became Max Wolf Valerio, and wrote a memoir about the metamorphosis from woman to man. In The Testosterone Files, published in 2006, Valerio confronts, from first-hand experience, the divide caused by differing male and female testosterone levels: ''Now that I am Max, I see this rift, this fundamental chasm between men and women's perceptions and experience of sexuality, is one that may never be bridged. There certainly can be no hope for understanding as long as society pretends that men and women are really the same, that the culture of male sexuality is simply a conflation of misogyny and dysfunction. That the male libido is shaped and driven primarily by socialisation that can be legislated or 'psychobabbled' out of existence.''
[http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/the-secret-desires-of-men-and-why-they-go-unfulfilled-20100901-14nhj.html?skin=text-only]

'Historic' Labor-Greens pact

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/pm-julia-gillards-high-risk-greens-embrace/story-fn59niix-1225913033761

Mr. Muehlenberg on justice: "Biblical justice", retributive justice, and distributive justice

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2010/09/01/%e2%80%98social-justice%e2%80%99-versus-biblical-justice/

I don't have time to do a proper rebuttal, or at least critique, of Mr. Muehlenberg's post, so I'll just offer a few thoughts without weaving them into a properly-structured essay:

Mr. Muehlberg says that his intention in writing that post is to

concentrate on just two [kinds of justice]: retributive justice and distributive justice. The former goes back at least to Aristotle and means simply, “to each man his due”. It has to do with giving people what they deserve. Thus we speak about ‘just deserts’ and so on.

The latter term is a more recent concept, and has to do with equality of outcome, and redistributing certain goods, including wealth, to ostensibly help out the less fortunate. It is what is often meant when the left – both secular and religious – speak about social justice.

Now the first problem is that it is justice in the broadest sense of the word, not justice in the narrower sense of retributive justice, which is said simply to render to each his due. Retributive justice is concerned with rendering to the evil-doer what is his due, namely, a punishment proportionate in severity to the severity of his evil-doing. Before reading Mr. Muehlenberg's post I had never heard of the term 'retributive justice' being used to describe anything other than the justice applying to evildoers.

As for distributive justice: As regards the virtue of justice among humans (obviously neither Mr. Muehlenberg nor I are concerned with justice towards God, which is the virtue of religion), there are two 'sub-virtues', so to speak, under it: Commutative justice and social justice. Commuative justice is individual-to-individual justice, whereas social justice is individual-to-society or society-to-individual justice. Sometimes the term 'social justice' is (or perhaps I should say "before the term 'social justice' was appropriated for describing what would be at best really social charity, and at worst assorted politically-correct causes, the term 'social justice' was ...") used only for individual-to-society justice (otherwise the term 'legal justice' is commonly used, since the individual's duties as a member of society are prescribed for him by law), while distributive justice is society-to-individual justice. All distributive justice means is that the burdens and benefits of being part of a society are distributed to each member of society in proportion to each member's talents and abilities and capacities and so on. So there is nothing sinister or 'un-Biblical' about the term at all; the alternative to distributive justice would be the injustice of burdens and benefits being conferred on everyone without taking into account the burdens and benefits which they have already received from nature or other circumstances.

Mr. Muehlenberg goes on:

At the risk of oversimplifying matters, it seems that the notion of retributive justice is more closely aligned with biblical notions of justice, while distributive justice is further afield from Scriptural principles. But this can hardly be defended adequately in a brief article, even in a most superficial fashion.

But although Mr. Muehlenberg goes out of his way to stress that he does not intend to offer an exhaustive treatise, he is still signalling that it is his opinion that distributive justice is "further afield from Scriptural principles". That opinion is clearly fallacious given the outline which I have provided of the true meaning of distributive justice, but the basis for this opinion becomes clearer in his next paragraph:

We would need to closely examine biblical terms such as justice, righteousness and the like. We would need to look at contemporary economic options as well. And we would need to study the historical record to see whether wealth redistribution has in fact worked, and really helped the poor. But let me tease things out just a bit more here.
[my emphasis]

So Mr. Muehlenberg's focus is on wealth redistribution--by 'distributive justice' he seems to conceive of something involving redistribution of wealth/income in order to achieve "equality of outcome". But distributive justice does not mean taking some of the wealth and income of the rich and transferring it to the poor so that they have equal wealth and income. It just means that when the government seeks to impose a burden on its subjects it needs to take into account what burdens and benefits they already have, and likewise for distributing the benefits of living in society. So as regards wealth redistribution, there is not necessarily any sin against properly-understood distributive justice involved in allowing inequality of wealth and income to persist, but there would be a sin against distributive justice on the part of the government if the government were to treat poor people the same as rich people, e.g. by taxing them all at a flat rate of taxation. Mr. Muehlenberg should have no problem agreeing that such a thing would be unjust, given that he agrees that "treat[ing] unequals equally ... is neither fair nor just."

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Stephen, King, Confessor, A.D. 2010

Notes: Saturday-Tuesday, August 28-31, 2010

Death of H.R.H The Duke of Parma and Piacenza (a.k.a Charles Hugh I. Borbón-Parma, pretender King of Spain), wedding of T.R.H. Prince and Princess Nicholas of Greece and Denmark

http://www.smh.com.au/national/obituaries/prince-was-thorn-in-side-of-both-franco-and-the-dutch-20100827-13vte.html?skin=text-only

http://www.greekroyalfamily.org/index.cfm?get=news&show=news&ItemID=254

His late Royal Highness's brother H.R.H. Prince Sixtus Henry of Bourbon-Parma was present at the Episcopal Consecrations of the S.S.P.X. Bishops (it is mentioned here that Prince Sixtus Henry was the first to congratulate Msgr. Lefebvre after the Consecrations, and though I can find no mainstream media news source on-line to back this up, I seem to remember that there was something about it in Marcel Lefebvre: The Biography).

Mr. Thompson on Australian Labor, self-styled progressives, and the working class (meanwhile, at the Herald: Exhibit A: Mr. Carlton)

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/my-party-was-trashed-by-the-middle-class/story-fn59niix-1225910722814

Long and not perfect (e.g. some of its generalisations are unsubstantiated (though they ring true), though perhaps they were documented in the book from which the article presumably draws), but a very interesting read. Of particular interest to readers of a Catholic blog is this excerpt:

A favourite tactic for driving home supposed working-class moral inferiority and for undermining its confidence is to discredit the institutions its members grew up believing in. Three examples of this tactic will suffice: sport, the church and the Anzac tradition.

[...] A recent front-page report in The Courier-Mail revealed that "[m]ore than 300 Queensland teachers are under investigation for inappropriate behaviour [and] almost all 26 teachers who had their registrations suspended or cancelled in the past year were cited for sexual misconduct."

It further revealed that a "state-employed teacher went from school to school, leaving a trail of complaints about indecent behaviour to young children, before losing his job", and it "also highlighted an issue with teachers leaving private schools under a cloud and being re-hired by Education Queensland."

There was no such coverage in the media further upmarket. But if the report had revealed that Catholic priests rather than public school teachers were the subject of investigations into alleged pedophile behaviour on such a scale, they without doubt would have given the investigation blanket coverage, at least until such time as the clergy were punished and removed, compensation paid, and apologies made to the victims, or charges laid and convictions entered, to be dragged up again at the first opportunity.

See also Mr. Muehlenberg's post on the article:

http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2010/08/29/australia%e2%80%99s-new-class/

The article appeared in last Saturday's edition of The Weekend Australian. On the same day, Mr. Mike Carlton at the Herald unwittingly supplied himself as a splendid specimen of what Mr. Thompson was talking about:

Apparently the DLP is b-a-a-a-ck in the person of one John Madigan, a Ballarat blacksmith - whoa, there Neddy - who, if he stands true to party form, will be fish on Fridays and a fan of the Spanish Inquisition. Again, the cold, dead hand of Bartholomew Augustine Santamaria, progenitor of the DLP, rises from the crypt to give us the one-finger salute. The same bony claw can be blamed for shoving the Mad Monk into frame as a putative prime minister, of which there is more below.

[...] To the disappointment of George Cardinal Pell, no doubt, the Greens were the big winners this time, picking up a swing of 3.59 per cent for nine Senate seats and one in the Reps, only the second they have had there. By any sane reading, the country came out last Saturday for what you might call the progressive centre-left. On first preferences Labor and the Greens combined got 49.9 per cent of the vote. The Coalition chalked up just 43.3 per cent.

Abbott's failure is probably not all his own fault. The Liberal Party machine in NSW, neutered by the ongoing war between its so-called moderate wing and the Opus Dei nutters, did him no favours. Properly managed, the Libs might have picked off another three seats here, enough to have snuck them into government. That flop will be giving Barry O'Farrell a few sleepless nights as we head towards the state election in March.
[http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/funny-farm-on-the-hill-loses-a-few-inmates-gains-some-more-20100827-13vx9.html?skin=text-only]

Note the contempt for Mr. Madigan's trade and for Catholic culture and history. (Note also the nonsense about the late Mr. Santamaria "shoving" Mr. Abbott "into the frame as putative prime minister", when, as is well known, Mr. Santamaria declined from the very beginning to support Mr. Abbott's career in the Liberal Party.) Then Mr. Carlton has another go at Catholics--of all the people who would have been disappointed at the Greens' successes at the recent election, why single out Cardinal Pell? And then he takes one more gratuitous swipe at Catholics, this time the albino monks who, in Mr. Carlton's simple world, are in a battle for N.S.W. Liberal supremacy (Not that I support either Opus Dei or the Liberal Party, though). So there you go: 'Progressivism', anti-Catholicism, and disdain for manual workers, all in the one neat package for Mr. Thompson to add to his research files.

Reminder: N.S.W. Parliament to debate same-sex adoption legislation later this week

Brought to my attention in an article in The Australian yesterday:

MPs return from the winter recess this week and the bill is due for debate in the lower house on Thursday.
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/christian-lobby-group-urges-mps-to-reject-adoption-bill/story-fn3dxity-1225911982342]

And here's the latest, in today's Herald:

"Churches get opt-out point on same-sex adoption bill":
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/churches-get-optout-point-on-samesex-adoption-bill-20100830-147g1.html?skin=text-only

Upcoming event for The Diocese of Wollongong:

Seen in last Sunday's Sydney Catholic Weekly:

BISHOP INGHAM'S PROGRAM
SEPTEMBER, 2010
[...] 29 Extraordinary Meeting of Council of Priests

Anyone know why the Council of Priests is meeting extraordinarily, and what such a meeting involves?

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. Raymond Nonnatus, Confessor, A.D. 2010

Notes: Thursday, August 19, 2010

Bl. Mary of the Cross (Mary MacKillop) on voting

In today's Herald:

The soon to be canonised Mary MacKillop wrote in 1903 to the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart before Australia's second federal election when women won the right to vote for the first time. ''Find out who are the members proposed for election and vote for those who are considered most friendly to the Church and Religion,'' she said, before adding a cautionary note.

''Every so-called Catholic is not the best man.''
[http://www.smh.com.au/federal-election/traditional-voting-patterns-20100818-12f8z.html?skin=text-only]

On the respective past careers of today's Federal Parliamentarians

Also in today's Herald:

... 97 per cent of today's federal parliamentarians come straight from careers as ''managers, administrators or professionals'', figures from the Parliamentary Library show. ... There is not a single tradesperson among them.
[http://www.smh.com.au/federal-election/toffs-replace-tinsmiths-in-parliament-20100818-12f92.html?skin=text-only]

H.H. The Pope's three 'non-negotiables' in public morality

I was reminded of these by the political party fact sheet which The Archdiocese of Sydney's Life, Marriage and Family Centre published in last Sunday's Sydney Catholic Weekly, and I thought that I'd like to keep them for future reference, and bring them to your attention, since they're quite good:

As far as the Catholic Church is concerned, the principal focus of her interventions in the public arena is the protection and promotion of the dignity of the person, and she is thereby consciously drawing particular attention to principles which are not negotiable. Among these the following emerge clearly today:

- protection of life in all its stages, from the first moment of conception until natural death;

- recognition and promotion of the natural structure of the family - as a union between a man and a woman based on marriage - and its defence from attempts to make it juridically equivalent to radically different forms of union which in reality harm it and contribute to its destabilization, obscuring its particular character and its irreplaceable social role;

- the protection of the right of parents to educate their children.

These principles are not truths of faith, even though they receive further light and confirmation from faith; they are inscribed in human nature itself and therefore they are common to all humanity. The Church’s action in promoting them is therefore not confessional in character, but is addressed to all people, prescinding from any religious affiliation they may have. On the contrary, such action is all the more necessary the more these principles are denied or misunderstood, because this constitutes an offence against the truth of the human person, a grave wound inflicted onto justice itself.
[Address of His Holiness Benedict XVI to the Members of the European People's Party on the Occasion of the Study Days on Europe,
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2006/march/documents/hf_ben-xvi_spe_20060330_eu-parliamentarians_en.html]

Fr. Flader on morality and voting (mostly good article) and usury (bad article)

The Rev. Fr. John Flader had a mostly good "Question Time" piece in the Sydney Catholic Weekly two Sundays ago on voting:

http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/article.php?classID=3&subclassID=59&articleID=7261&class=Features&subclass=Question Time

but unfortunately followed it up with a lamentable one last Sunday on usury:

http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/article.php?classID=3&subclassID=59&articleID=7278&class=Features&subclass=Question Time

Emily's List: Pro-abortion, of course, but all the way up to and including full term?

A writer to last Sunday's Sydney Catholic Weekly said the following:

To have the financial and political support of Emily’s List, a candidate must support the abortion of a full term baby right up to the moment of birth.

Emily’s List won’t tolerate any restrictions on abortion, even for viable full-term babies.
[http://www.catholicweekly.com.au/article.php?classID=2&subclassID=5&articleID=7280&class=Comment&subclass=Letters]

I checked the Emily's List official website, and though, as we know, Emily's List is pro-abortion, I couldn't find out whether this support is unconditional. Could any of my readers provide any evidence for this?

Reginaldvs Cantvar
Feast of St. John Eudes, Confessor, 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, July 29, 2010

More information on the Greens-Labor preference deal

From today's edition of The Sydney Morning Herald:

LABOR has released the preference agreement it signed with the Greens in a bid to shoot down Coalition claims it involved side deals on policies such as mining and carbon taxes.

The preference deal, signed by the ALP national secretary, Karl Bitar, and the Greens national convenor, Derek Schild, makes no mention of any policy deals, only how preferences will be distributed.

It says Labor will direct its Senate preferences in every state and territory to Greens Senate candidates ''ahead of all other candidates''.

In the House of Representatives, all Greens how-to-vote cards in 54 marginal seats ''shall recommend a preference to the ALP ahead of the Coalition''.

Of the 54 marginals, 12 are in NSW. They are Greenway, Page, Eden-Monaro, Macarthur, Macquarie, Hughes, Robertson, Wentworth,Paterson, Calare, Dobell and Bennelong.

The crucial NSW seats not included are Lindsay and Gilmore. Also part of the deal are 15 Queensland seats, nine in Victoria, eight in WA, six in South Australia, three in Tasmania and one, Solomon, in the Northern Territory.
[http://www.smh.com.au/federal-election/its-no-big-deal-labor-hoses-down-accusations-about-greens-20100728-10w36.html?skin=text-only]

On the death penalty in Japan

According to a report in today's Herald, "[a Japanese] cabinet survey carried out in February found more than 85 per cent of the public support the death penalty." Yet

Japan's Justice Minister, a foe of capital punishment, has announced a review of the death penalty after witnessing the first executions since her centre-left government took power in 2009.

"Russian Ministry Denies Lobby Permit to Same-Sex Marriage Group"

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=32807

H.H. The Pope to discuss the interpretation of Vatican II at his annual reunion with former students

From D.I.C.I. (brought to my attention by a post at AQ):

In keeping with a tradition that he instituted when he was a theology professor in Regensburg (Germany), and as he has done each year since the beginning of his pontificate, Benedict XVI will meet from August 27 to 29, 2010, with a group of former students—the “Ratzinger Schülerkreis”—in his summer residence Castel Gandolfo. By way of exception, this meeting will include the participation of Bishop Kurt Koch, former ordinary of Basel (Switzerland) and newly-appointed president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. Among the former students of Professor Ratzinger will be the Archbishop of Vienna (Austria), Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, and the Auxiliary Bishop of Hamburg (Germany), Bishop Hans-Jochen Jaschke.

This year the circle of Joseph Ratzinger’s former students will work on the hermeneutic of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). The theological discussion with Benedict XVI will take place all day on August 28. On the previous day the former students will have debated among themselves. The meeting will conclude with a Mass on the morning of August 29.
[http://www.dici.org/en/news/the-interpretation-of-vatican-ii-on-the-agenda-for-the-%E2%80%9Cratzinger-schulerkreis%E2%80%9D/]

See also the first comment at that AQ post for a good editorial by Fr. Lorans on the matter.

"Neuroscience suggests heterosexual monogamy is best"

Excerpt from the CathNews article:

Mr [Kamal] Weerakoon told the national conference that neuroscientists working in sexology - which studies gender and sexuality - showed that sexual activity had three stages: lust, love and bonding.

"Biologically, we are wired to desire sex, to fall in love with the person we desire sex with, and for that love to develop into deep attachment. Our bodies are wired to operate best with one sexual partner for life," he said.
[http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=22579]

"Athanasius" on Feeneyism again

http://athanasiuscm.blogspot.com/2010/07/lunacy-of-feenyism-part-2.html

(I haven't read the full thing yet but I expect to do so soon.)

Reginaldvs Cantvar

Feast of St. Martha, Virgin, A.D. 2010

Notes: Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Greens-Labor preference deal:

[T]he Greens will receive Labor Senate preferences in every state and territory, and Labor will receive Greens preferences in more than 50 marginal seats.
[http://www.smh.com.au/federal-election/fear-mongering-over-greens-deal-20100720-10jjw.html?skin=text-only]

Mr. Muehlenberg contra Mr. Hinch on so-called gay marriage

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/heterosexual-marriage-is-societys-bedrock/story-e6frg6zo-1225894778178

I seem to recall that Mr. Muehlenberg had a response to Mr. Rodney Croome's recent piece on 'gay marriage' rejected by Fairfax, so I was glad to see this piece published in The Australian today. It is a mostly good summary of the arguments against this curious thing.

Mr. Winders's father was a Freemason

Occasionally one sees letters or comments in the papers or on-line by Mr. Lewis Winders; some of you might be familiar with these. Here is a revealing recent comment by him which I wish to keep for future reference:

Lewis Winders of Tasmania Posted at 3:28 PM July 20, 2010

Glad you mentioned the Freemasons, Henk (a group which, at the last tally, had a record of sexual assaults, infant rapes, violent crusades, tortures and burnings at the stake totalling absolutely zero). My late father was instrumental in introducing women to some of the formerly male-only ceremonies in the Lodge at which he was GM. It certainly rocked a few people's boats at the time but they soon noticed that the world continued to revolve on its axis, so the Great Architect was obviously not too enraged at the idea. Many of the members even grew to appreciate the ladies' company. Just imagine: a group of men enjoying the presence and contribution of women! How misguided is that?
Comment 14 of 14
[http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/mindless-misogyny/comments-fn558imw-1225894270061]

(Wow, so no Freeemasons in the history of Freemasonry have ever individually or corporately committed sexual assault, or infant rape, or been involved in, to coin a term, compassades (e.g. rebellion leading to the usurpation of sovereignty over the Papal States; readers might be able to furnish other examples), or torture or killing (whatever happened to William Morgan, anyhow?)? Impressive!)

Mind you, I don't want to read too much into the younger Mr. Winders's Masonic connections; our society is so thoroughly liberal, naturalistic, and anti-Catholic that Mr. Winders could just as easily have picked up his tenets from extra-domestic/extra-parental influences.

Blog comments by me

At Mr. Schütz's blog:

Cardinal Pole
July 21, 2010 at 5:18 am

“precisely because Latin doesn’t have articles, if the sense of “one god, but not the one God” was intended, the text would need to include something to point to this.”

Which simply tells us that the sense of “one god, but not the one God” was presumably not intended.

” [I]Nobiscum Deum adorant unicum[/I] means that they adore the unique God along with us”

As would all monotheists (at least those who hold that God can and ought to be adored, of course), yet as we agree, the fact that two persons or sets of persons are monotheists does not mean that their respective monotheisms have the same God.

“the preceding sentence, which [I] don’t quote ”

Because I’m interested here in Islam in particular rather than monotheism in general; indeed, that first sentence reinforces my case to the extent that it reminds us that not everyone who holds that one god is the creator adores the same god.

“You can’t have [I]a[/I] unique God”

Why not? Each of us has, for instance, a unique Tax File Number.

“If the author wanted to say that Muslims and Christian each worship a god which they conceive to be unique, he would need to say that.”

Assuming, of course, that that was indeed what he wanted to say! If he just wanted to say that Muslims are monotheists and to list some of the features of their monotheism, which is presumably all the author in fact wanted to do, then he can do that by saying what was indeed said.

“In short, the [I]Deus unicus[/I] adored by Muslims is the [I]Creator[/I].”

As is the unique god adored by any monotheist who adores a god as creator.
[http://scecclesia.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/bill-muehlenberg-takes-issue-with-my-post-on-cadburys-chocolate/#comment-15902]

Cardinal Pole
July 21, 2010 at 6:16 am

Just to clarify the sentence taking up text lines 4-5 of the body of that comment: What I mean there is that the author presumably just wanted to say that Muslims worship one God, while neither affirming nor denying that that one God is the one God, i.e., the same God we Christians worship.
[http://scecclesia.wordpress.com/2010/07/17/bill-muehlenberg-takes-issue-with-my-post-on-[cadburys-chocolate/#comment-15904]

At Terra's blog:

Cardinal Pole said...

"Is it just for the State to compel [you] to vote in elections"

The onus is on whoever says that it is unjust to prove the alleged injustice.

July 21, 2010 5:01 AM
Your comment has been saved and will be visible after blog owner approval.
[http://australiaincognita.blogspot.com/2010/07/and-it-is-on-australia-goes-to-polls-on.html]

Reginaldvs Cantvar

Feast of St. Lawrence of Brindisi, Confessor, Doctor of the Church, A.D. 2010

Notes: Friday-Tuesday, July 9-13, 2010

Mrs. Shanahan and Mr. Curtis on the Democratic Labor Party and Communists in the A.L.P.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/politics/opinion/catholics-led-charge-against-communists/story-e6frgd0x-1225889696978
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/the-labor-in-dlp/story-fn558imw-1225890473052

Anglican General Synod rejects proposed safeguards for objectors to ladybishops

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/church-of-england-left-stunned-by-verdict/story-e6frg6so-1225890466306
http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=32464

American university lecturer fired, apparently for openly agreeing with Catholic/natural-law morality

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=32452
http://www.billmuehlenberg.com/2010/07/11/coming-soon-to-a-gulag-near-you/

Mr. Magister on recently-published books by Prof. Amerio and Msgr. Gherardini and H.H. The Pope's expected attitude towards them

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=32467

Msgr. Williamson on the Vatican-S.S.P.X. doctrinal discussions

http://angelqueen.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=32459

More on G.L.B.T. aged care

http://www.smh.com.au/national/the-people-agedcare-operators-overlook-20100711-105pw.html?skin=text-only

I'm still trying to work out what all these 'gay-specific ageing issues' are which require this extra funding and attention. I checked out the provided U.R.L. for the GLBTI Retirement Association but I'm still none the wiser.

Reginaldvs Cantvar
13.VII.2010

Notes: Saturday-Tuesday, July 3-6, 2010

Findings from an on-line survey into Australian attitudes towards abortion

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/strong-support-for-abortion-heartens-law-reform-supporters-20100704-zvxs.html?skin=text-only
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/late-term-abortion-gets-ok/story-e6frg6nf-1225887770288

I was going to quote the figures reported, but

the chief executive of the anti-abortion group Right to Life NSW, Chiang Lim, said the fact that the survey was conducted online meant it had to be taken with ''a bucketful of salt''.

''If you don't do it face to face with proper control groups you are not doing a proper survey.''

Pretender Archbishop of Canterbury approves "openly gay cleric" for Anglican pseudobishopric

http://www.smh.com.au/world/anglican-battle-lines-drawn-over-gay-bishop-20100704-zvxe.html?skin=text-only
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/gay-bishop-to-divide-anglicans/story-e6frg6so-1225888211541

Mr. Carr on Communists in the A.L.P.

The Hon. Bob Carr had an interesting opinion piece in yesterday's edition of The Australian. Here are some excerpts:

The revelation of dual [C.P.A.-A.L.P.] membership is rich in implications. They recast the political history of Australia from the 1950s to the 70s.

First, they vindicate the decision of a large part of Catholic Australia to veto the election of federal Labor governments by voting for the breakaway Democratic Labor Party after the Labor split of 1955.

Still something of a Labor romantic, I find it painful to squeeze this out, but it strikes me the DLP indictment of the ramshackle Labor Party led by H. V. Evatt and Arthur Calwell was mostly right.

A "pro-communist left wing" - you can hear Bob Santamaria enunciating it as one word - secured an elevated role in the ALP once so many Catholics withdrew and this Labor Left was led (or largely led) by figures who kept a dual membership in the Communist Party in their bottom drawers or pasted in the end piece of an unread Das Kapital above the family fireplace.

[...] From Aarons's book not just Whitlam but the whole ALP Right is elevated, the party members who did not take Santamaria's advice and walk out but who opted to stay in the ALP and fight. Their names should be recorded on some kind of honour roll. They include Laurie Short and John Ducker, and the secretaries of unions of carpenters, electricians and rubber workers now dead and forgotten, united in a view that the party of Curtin and Chifley was not to be packaged up and handed over to Marxist-Leninists and outright Soviet agents.
[my square-bracketed interpolations,
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/thankfully-whitlam-and-co-rescued-labor-from-the-reds/story-e6frg6zo-1225887763473]

And here are some interesting comments from that article's comments section:

Keiron J Long Posted at 10:49 AM Today

Bob Carr is a tad selective in his newfound historical narritive (Thankfully, Whitlam and Co, July 5). The Catholics were basically driven out of the Labor Party by Evatt and his Commie mates who Bob Carr only now discovers controlled the ALP. Someone should tell Bob about the number of Catholics that lost ALP endorsement as parliamentarians because of their opposition to communism within the Labor Party. Just for starters, why don't we mention the State seat of Hawthorn in Victoria, held by a Mr Murphy, for Labor. Once Mr Murphy was cut down by the ALP the seat became a Liberal stronghold.
Comment 11 of 25

corso cowboy Posted at 11:15 AM Today

So Bob Santamaria was right about the ALP after all? What comes out of this book is not to praise the "stay in an fighters" (as Carr does) but those who sacrificed their careers for principle and preferneced Menzies so ensuring that from 1954 - 1972 a Popular Front Government did not rule Australia.
Comment 15 of 25

G of Perth Posted at 11:24 AM Today

What is the difference between the policies of the 1960's Labor left described in this report and the policies of the current Greens Party of today?
Comment 16 of 25

See also these letters in today's edition of The Australian.

Blog comment by me:

At Mr. Hawkins's blog:

Cardinal Pole, on July 5, 2010 at 2:37 pm Said:

Clarify things? In those posts you don’t even define what rights, those posts’ very subject matter, are, let alone what marriage is.
[http://forthesakeofscience.wordpress.com/2010/06/30/gillard-is-against-gay-marriage/#comment-5930]

Reginaldvs Cantvar

6.VII.2010

Mr. Costello and N.S.W. Labor: two examples of how mass-membership political parties corrode the common good

So Mr. Peter Costello M.P. is going to stay in Parliament until such time as he can quit without looking like a crass opportunist. How gracious of you, Mr. Costello. And how grateful the humble folk of Higgins must be that a man of such august stature, such towering intellect would deign to continue to represent them without the adornment of office. Mr. Alan Ramsey summed up my feelings in one of his Saturday columns in The Sydney Morning Herod:

… if the former treasurer was as diligent a backbench MP as he is a salesman for his memoirs, nobody could possibly call him the parliamentary parasite he's become since the voters got rid of John Howard and his government almost 10 months ago. While Alexander Downer, Mark Vaile and Peter McGauran gave up bludging off taxpayers in recent months and left Parliament, Costello has remained in his subsidised hammock, contributing nothing to Parliament, his party or the community. His only interest has been self-interest.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/dithering-liberals-get-their-deserts/2008/09/12/1220857832437.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

In his defence, Mr. Costello has promised to continue to discharge his duties as Member for Higgins. But he was elected as Member for Higgins, and this was not contingent on his party forming a government and him continuing as a Minister of the Crown. If he were serious about his duties he would stay in Parliament until the next election. But of course, whether he cares to admit it or not, his first duty is not to his constituency or to the common good, but to his party. And this is a most lamentable state of affairs.

Meanwhile, the same newspaper recorded, in minute detail, the events leading up to the cosmetic re-arrangements in the N.S.W. (Labor) Government. And it was not edifying. The following sentence just about sums up the situation:

It has become a Government where the mediocre and compromised are rewarded while the remnants occupy themselves in petty debauchery.

Or, if you’d like it with a bit more colour:

"The wogs versus the bogans and the bogans won," was how a caucus member described the changes.

Dare I dream that, despite all its appearances, this government might actually be trying, in some unnoticed way, to advance the Social Reign of Christ? Ha, of course not. But it also would be a futile exercise to try to identify what this pack of miscreants is doing for the common good even if conceived of in purely material terms. And despite Mr. Rees’ desire to promote himself as a breath of fresh air, he is, as Mr. Christopher Kremmer notes,

part of what one metropolitan newspaper recently referred to as "a vast network of hacks, spivs, union bosses, developers and, occasionally, sleaze merchants".
(http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/rees-puts-the-arrogance-in-ateam/2008/09/12/1220857832446.html?page=fullpage)

In other words, a product of a mass-membership political party.

What I mean by the ‘mass-membership political party’ is the party that, contrary to the traditions of the Westminster system in which a ‘party’ was a loose, fluid coalition of like-minded M.P.s, draws its membership from all quarters of society, levying fees from them and maintaining a massive extra-parliamentary party bureaucracy. The problem is that this bureaucracy, like all bureaucracies, has imperatives of its own quite apart from the common good. Its chief imperative is the drive to be re-elected and form a government. The cases of Mr. Costello and N.S.W. Labor demonstrate, respectively (but with some connections), two of the unfortunate consequences of this. One is that the M.P.’s first duty is owed, not to the common good or his or her electorate, but to the party machine. The other, related to the first, is that the parties tend to field careerist candidates who have spent the best years of their working lives in the party rather than in the real world.

Now I understand that the rise of the mass-membership party in the Westminster system was a complicated process, resulting in part from the increasing separation of, in Bagehot’s words, the ‘dignified’ parts of government from the ‘efficient’ parts of government and the latter’s transfer to the legislature, i.e. the Government as The Queen in Parliament, which required a stable foundation for forming a government. And I don’t mean to pretend that the days when a political party was just a parliamentary coalition were somehow utopian. These objections notwithstanding, it seems clear to me that these party behemoths exercise a quite malign influence.

And that’s to say nothing of the two-party system. The two-party system is a tidy enough way to run things if the parties are just a broad but informal division between Whigs and Tories, with some transfer between the two, depending on the issue at hand. But when an external party machine and rigid party discipline is brought into play we start to see the economists’ median voter theory apply, whereby the two parties end up being but two shades of grey. On matters of binary choice in which the division in the electorate between aye and nay is roughly fifty-fifty, then one party stands for aye and the other for nay. But where, say, ninety per cent are in favour then both parties will concur with each other to give the majority what it demands rather than making a principled stand. Quite democratic of course, but not necessarily in the common good.

So what is the solution then? Expelling their members from Parliament would be nice, but the party bureaucracies would continue as parasites, albeit morphed into lobby groups without formal influence, while no doubt they would continue to exert their corrosive influence behind the scenes. Banning them altogether would be nicer still, but unconstitutional. So in the meantime, the least we can do is direct our preferences to an independent candidate or a small but principled party, knowing that one’s vote would not be ‘wasted’ since preferences would still flow to either of the major parties (in Australian Federal elections at least), while the big parties would be denied the funding that is allocated to first-preference recipients.

Reginaldvs Cantvar