Hoax alert–Vatican condemns Halloween

Several blogs like Catholic Key have the story. In short, the media can’t report on religion without going into ZOMGRAWR!11! mode.

For a sensible view of Halloween, try Erin Manning at And Sometimes Tea:

Secular celebrations are just that: secular. And sometimes that’s just fine–no one expects to have to infuse the Independence Day barbecue and fireworks ritual with a narrative about how Independence Day is a foreshadowing of our independence from sin, and the fireworks are reminders of the brevity of life and how all that is beautiful eventually becomes ash, and the barbecue is an example of hope, because we sure hope the guy in charge of the grill is using a meat thermometer instead of just guessing when the food is done…This is not, of course, to say that there’s no place for prayer, for faith, at an Independence Day barbecue; it just means we don’t have to try to turn a purely secular event into an adopted Catholic holiday, when that is simply not what it is.

Update: Commentor “stef” sends along this link, which shows this is old hat being recycled.

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Nerdiversions–Torchlight, Diablo 3, and general gaming geekiness.

Torchlight returns to the Diablo well and wisely refuses to mess with the formula.

 

The cantankerous Robert Fripp once said that when a musician talks about “expressing himself” you know it’s going to suck. Likewise, when a game is touted as “creative”, “innovative”, or “groundbreaking” I can safely bet that what it means is that the creators have gone in for cheap novelty or desperate experimentation that does nothing for the core game.

So now that Diablo 3 is in the works, some in the gamesphere note the return of the Barbarian from D2 and that the other characters are remakes of previous ones and are asking where the creativity is. I respond like many others, that there are only so many character archetypes out there, and when game developers stray too far from these, they end up with mediocre filler. Rather, I would admonish Blizzard to stick to the philosophy that has made them what they are: Forget what you think other people want, forget vague appeals to creativity, just stick to this one question: what game do I, the developer want to play? Then go and make that game and the rest of us will vote yea or nay with our dollars.

Of course the game is a loooong way off. They say if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans. Likewise, if you want to make a gamer laugh, tell them Blizzard’s release date. In the meantime, for a modest $20 there is the downloadable and computer requirement-friendly Torchlight, made by creators from the original Diablo and its sequel. It is a Diablo clone mind you (except a little more cartoonish like World of Warcraft), but sometimes I just want a straight-forward dungeon crawler, and Torchlight fills the bill nicely.

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Breaking News: Dissident groups band together to storm Vatican

LarryD exposes the plot!: The website of the American Catholic Council:

Inclusivity

Those involved from the beginning have been acutely aware that our statement of inclusivity has not been reflected in the reality of participation. Approaches to others have not produced an ACC planning committee which is representative of many potential constituencies. However, we have attracted representatives of women’s groups and others involved in specific reform agendas such as optional celibacy, women’s ordination, GLT, peace activism, protection of children from abuse—and organizations with broader agendas such as ARCC, VOTF, CTA and FutureChurch. This must remain an ongoing process—as we ask ourselves regularly: who else should be working with us and sharing ideas with us?

But hang on there. This isn’t just the usual inclusivity we klatch about at Panera Bread with our Mac computers. This is Double-Sekrit s00per-concentrated inclusivity: “We have committed to radical inclusivity”.

But read carefully this sentence: “Ultimately, the only pre-requisites to “membership” and “participation” were (1) commitment to the principles of Vatican II (i.e. the rights and responsibilities of all the baptized) and (2) a willingness to participate in the process.*”

What’s that asterick you ask?:

* This qualification decision was made to ensure that groups committed to a pre-Vatican II restoration of a clerical, hierarchical Church or who rejected the roles and responsibilities of all baptized did not attempt to co-opt or abort the Council. We realized that the importance of Vatican II was often lost on Catholics born after the 1950s—but we decided that we could articulate the principles of Vatican II without focusing on the Vatican Council itself.

Ohh that wonderful inclusivity.

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More Rhetorical Meltdowns over the Anglican thing

Chris Johnson of MCJ rips James Carroll a new one in a fisk of the latter’s bemoaning of the fact that the project to Episcopalize the Catholic Church has been set back decades. Sample:

While the Vatican and its recruits just say no, the rest of us attempt to apply tested modes of ethical reasoning to revolutions, for example, in genetic science that separate reproduction from sexuality.

Translation: we have our house “theologians” declare that they’ve “studied” the issue and decided that boinking a man/woman/other you’re not married to isn’t a sin any longer.

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Evnironmentalists bare their misanthropic fangs.

Mark Steyn links us to one fogbound Alex Renton:

The worst thing that you or I can do for the planet is to have children. If they behave as the average person in the rich world does now, they will emit some 11 tonnes of CO² every year of their lives. In their turn, they are likely to have more carbon-emitting children who will make an even bigger mess. If Britain is to meet the government’s target of an 80% reduction in our emissions by 2050, we need to start reversing our rising rate of population growth immediately.

And if that makes sense, why not start cutting population everywhere? Are condoms not the greenest technology of all?

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Blast from the past

And the future tempts my guilty-pleasure center mightily.

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When the news looks like a post-apocalyptic novel

I watch this and get chills.

Edit: I published this in February but the video has since been removed from YouTube. It is still available here: http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/no_ones_home_neighborhood

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Empires of the Sea

Roger Crowley’s Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Center of the World has two qualities that often are never in the same room: academically solid and an engaging read. The seige of the Malta reads like a real-life example of Tolkein’s Helm’s Deep. This passage reminded me of W4′s Statement of Purpose:

It had taken Christian Europe perhaps one hundred fifty years to understand the true nature of Ottoman successsion. To scotch the possibility of civil war, the news of a sultan’s death was always stage-managed; when word reached the West, it was invariably greeted with a collective sigh of relief. Pious hopes would be expressed that the new sultan would prove more admirable, less aggressive than his predecessor, as if the propensity for war derived from personal choice; even Mehmet, the conqueror of Constantinople who campaigned continuously for thirty years, had been considered at first too callow to threaten. By the time Selim ascended the throne in September 1566. Europe had been largely disabused of such notions: a change of ruler required fresh wars.

The new sultan had survived the murderous selection process through the death or execution of his more talented siblings. No one had a high opinion of Selim. He was physically unprepossessing; he was lazy and unpopular with the army–the janissaries referred to him as the Ox; he was said to be a drunkard. The ambassadors filed back unfavorable reports: “by nature irascible and bloodthirsty, he is given to all kinds of carnal pleasures, and above all he is a great wine lover.” But by the middle of the sixteenth century Europe understood that personal qualities were almost irrelevant. The idea of conquest was central to the sultanate, intricately interwoven with its holder’s position as leader of the Muslim world. Conquest was expressed repeatedly in the visible trappings of power; the high-sounding titles proclaimed dominion over the earth. The elaborate campaign tents and banners, the jeweled swords and ceremonial helmets decorated with the victory suras from the Koran, emphasized his role as an Islamic warrior. Only spectacular conquests could legitimize a sultan. War was not dependent on personal volition; it was an unceasing imperial project, authorized by Islam.

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Someone tell me–why is the Vatican on a witch-hunt among women religious orders?

Oh yeah: http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/oct/09102302.html

HINSDALE, Illinois, October 23, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Dominican nun has been seen frequenting an abortion facility in Illinois recently – but not, as one might expect, to pray for an end to abortion or to counsel women seeking abortions, but to volunteer as a clinic escort…

…To respectfully express concern (See: LSN Guidelines for Effective Communication):

Cardinal Francis George
Archdiocese of Chicago
835 N. Rush St.
Chicago, IL 60611-2030
312-534-8200

Sr. Patricia Mulcahey, OP
Prioress – Sinsinawa Dominicans
E-mail: Spatmul@aol.com

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What the Vatican announcement about Anglicans ISN’T

I won’t repeat the buzz since so many better blogs are doing it. If you need to catch up, see here, or here.

Let me clear up one thing now because one commentor at CMR thought this meant the Catholic Church is getting rid of the celibacy vow for priests. T’ain’t so. The Catholic Church has for a long time made exceptions and allowed married priests. This would simply be a continuation of that, not a ditching. Commentor Paul explains:

I rather doubt that anyone in either the Vatican or TAC would view this development as “opening itself up to married priests.”

The Vatican is only extending to Anglicans the same arrangements currently in place for Eastern Catholic Churches, arrangements which were variously made in the 12th, 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

So it isn’t a new thing at all; it’s a quite old concession, only made in certain extraordinary circumstances, for charity and the sake of unity.

It’s not likely an indication of any intention to change Roman practice (which in any case would be a very bad idea).

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