Former religion writer for the L.A. Times, William Lobdell, discusses his journey from evangelical Christian to RCIA candidate for Roman Catholicism to involvement in the Los Angeles priest sex abuse scandal and eventual embrace of atheism.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Video from the Christian Book Expo 2009
William Lane Craig, Christopher Hitchens, Douglas Wilson, Lee Strobel discusses if the God of Christianity exists and if it matters March, 2009 at the Christian Book Expo.
Christian Book Expo 2009
Christian Book Expo 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
YouTube censors audio on Democracy Now! newsreel
YouTube silenced the audio today on a newsreel show from Democracy Now! claiming infringement of Warner Bros copyright:
.jpg of screenshot showing date/time/details of YouTube censorship:
.jpg of screenshot showing date/time/details of YouTube censorship:
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
"Transgression against the sacred nature of the Eucharist"
I've previously posted about the continuing controversy between my dear Bishop Frank Dewane and the group of Catholics comprising the SW Florida chapter of the Voice of the Faithful. I have many good friends in the chapter, and have greatly enjoyed their educational programs over the past six years. Unfortunately, the problems that they are experiencing in living their faith in good conscience is again being sorely tried:
----- Original Message -----
----- Original Message -----
From: VOTFofSWFL@aol.com
Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2009 6:30 AMSubject: IMMEDIATE E-MAIL FOR VOTF
VOICE OF THE FAITHFUL
OF SOUTHWEST FLORIDA
HAS BEEN DENIED
THE CHURCH
THE MASS
THE EUCHARIST
Saint John the Evangelist Catholic Church will not be the site for VOTF of SWFL Seventh Annual Mass. The reason given by the pastor is that the presence of the VOTF of SWFL may be a transgression against the sacred nature of the Eucharist.
Fr. Thomas Glackin, former pastor of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church, will celebrate the Mass for the seventh time.
The VOTF of SWFL Mass and Eucharist will be celebrated in
Vanderbilt Presbyterian Church
1225 Piper Blvd.
Naples, FL
March 26, 2009
3:00 PM
Thursday, March 5, 2009
DOV calls for Justice for Farmworkers, End to Slavery
The Peace and Justice Office of the Diocese of Venice in Florida asks that the following petition be circulated throughout Florida and delivered to their offices by Tuesday, March 10th:
Dear Governor Crist,
In December of last year, federal prosecutors from the Department of Justice wrapped up yet another farm labor slavery case in Florida, a case the Chief Assistant US Attorney called “one of Southwest Florida!s "biggest and ugliest slavery cases ever,!” according to the Ft. Myers News-Press. I am writing today to demand that you use every resource at your command to ensure that it be the last slavery case ever in Florida!s fields.
This latest case – in which, according to court documents, workers were chained to poles, locked inside trucks, beaten, and robbed of their pay – was the seventh such case in just over a decade. Indeed, so shameful is Florida!s record of farm labor abuse that another federal prosecutor was prompted to call the state “ground zero for modern-day slavery” in the pages of the New Yorker magazine. Yet, when a reporter called your office for a comment on the most recent case, you declined to comment and instead passed the call off to the spokesperson for Florida's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Terrence McElroy, who gave the impression that one slavery case per year is somehow no cause for alarm. Given an opportunity to clarify his statement, Mr. McElroy only underscored his disregard for the victims of this most brutal of human rights violations, terming seven slavery cases in ten years, involving well over 1,000 workers, a “rarity.” His comments rightly set off a groundswell
of outraged reactions by human rights, religious, consumer, and labor organizations and leaders across the country.
Governor Crist, even a single case of slavery in the twenty-first century is too many.
As the leader of the state and the single most powerful voice for the protection of every Floridian!s fundamental human rights, you must repudiate the words of your spokesperson, and do so with no further delay. But you must do more than that. The key to ending farm labor slavery is to eliminate the degrading and inhumane working conditions faced by all Florida's farmworkers on a daily basis, as these conditions are what allow slavery to flourish.
The everyday exploitation of Florida!s farmworkers includes:
• Sub-poverty wages - Tomato pickers make, on average, only $10,000/year;
• No raise in nearly 30 years - Pickers are paid virtually the same per bucket piece rate (roughly 45 cents per 32 lb. bucket) today as they were in 1980. At today!s rate, workers have to pick nearly 2.5 TONS of tomatoes just to earn minimum wage for a typical 10-hr day;
• Denial of fundamental labor rights - Farmworkers in Florida have no right to overtime pay, even when working 60-70 hour weeks, and no right to organize or bargain collectively.
You must do everything in your power to ensure an end to those conditions and help lay the groundwork for a future of dignified wages and humane working conditions for farmworkers.
Specifically, I join my voice to that of thousands of other concerned consumers of Florida produce to call upon you to:
1. Publicly condemn the existence of modern-day slavery in Florida;
2. Commit the full power of your office to immediately and comprehensively address the plague of abuse and modern-day slavery in Florida!s fields by:
a) meeting with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and federal officials who prosecute slavery, and
b) demanding that the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange renounce its opposition to implementing the agreements that socially responsible fast food and supermarket companies have signed to insure better pay and working conditions for tomato pickers, so as to eliminate the conditions that give rise to slavery.
Thank you,
Name City, State, Zip
NEVER FORGET: Your ancestors also were immigrants who organized to better their lives and the lot of their children and grandchildren:
Dear Governor Crist,
In December of last year, federal prosecutors from the Department of Justice wrapped up yet another farm labor slavery case in Florida, a case the Chief Assistant US Attorney called “one of Southwest Florida!s "biggest and ugliest slavery cases ever,!” according to the Ft. Myers News-Press. I am writing today to demand that you use every resource at your command to ensure that it be the last slavery case ever in Florida!s fields.
This latest case – in which, according to court documents, workers were chained to poles, locked inside trucks, beaten, and robbed of their pay – was the seventh such case in just over a decade. Indeed, so shameful is Florida!s record of farm labor abuse that another federal prosecutor was prompted to call the state “ground zero for modern-day slavery” in the pages of the New Yorker magazine. Yet, when a reporter called your office for a comment on the most recent case, you declined to comment and instead passed the call off to the spokesperson for Florida's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, Terrence McElroy, who gave the impression that one slavery case per year is somehow no cause for alarm. Given an opportunity to clarify his statement, Mr. McElroy only underscored his disregard for the victims of this most brutal of human rights violations, terming seven slavery cases in ten years, involving well over 1,000 workers, a “rarity.” His comments rightly set off a groundswell
of outraged reactions by human rights, religious, consumer, and labor organizations and leaders across the country.
Governor Crist, even a single case of slavery in the twenty-first century is too many.
As the leader of the state and the single most powerful voice for the protection of every Floridian!s fundamental human rights, you must repudiate the words of your spokesperson, and do so with no further delay. But you must do more than that. The key to ending farm labor slavery is to eliminate the degrading and inhumane working conditions faced by all Florida's farmworkers on a daily basis, as these conditions are what allow slavery to flourish.
The everyday exploitation of Florida!s farmworkers includes:
• Sub-poverty wages - Tomato pickers make, on average, only $10,000/year;
• No raise in nearly 30 years - Pickers are paid virtually the same per bucket piece rate (roughly 45 cents per 32 lb. bucket) today as they were in 1980. At today!s rate, workers have to pick nearly 2.5 TONS of tomatoes just to earn minimum wage for a typical 10-hr day;
• Denial of fundamental labor rights - Farmworkers in Florida have no right to overtime pay, even when working 60-70 hour weeks, and no right to organize or bargain collectively.
You must do everything in your power to ensure an end to those conditions and help lay the groundwork for a future of dignified wages and humane working conditions for farmworkers.
Specifically, I join my voice to that of thousands of other concerned consumers of Florida produce to call upon you to:
1. Publicly condemn the existence of modern-day slavery in Florida;
2. Commit the full power of your office to immediately and comprehensively address the plague of abuse and modern-day slavery in Florida!s fields by:
a) meeting with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and federal officials who prosecute slavery, and
b) demanding that the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange renounce its opposition to implementing the agreements that socially responsible fast food and supermarket companies have signed to insure better pay and working conditions for tomato pickers, so as to eliminate the conditions that give rise to slavery.
Thank you,
Name City, State, Zip
NEVER FORGET: Your ancestors also were immigrants who organized to better their lives and the lot of their children and grandchildren:
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
For Ben: One Man Much Loved
Ash Wednesday 2009
I tried to give it to Peggy, but she was adamant that she was done with trinkets. My son Stephen and I had been delivering odds and ends to various charities, and the medal must have fallen out of one of the bags.
I continued out the door to my car. Ben Simpson was re-arranging his music and stands in his car. He didn't know, but I'd left him a music 'cheat book' for the Big Band era songs for the nursing homes with one of the priests, for him to receive as a surprise. I was curious if he'd gotten it yet, & surreptitiously looked for it in the very cluttered vehicle. This was pretty normal for me, as I flit about many places and have many interests. I joke that I'm "one of St. Anthony's kids", i.e. that I'm always finding things or remembering treasures discarded.
Ben wandered in much the same way, so we were related in many ways. For example, I always sought advice from men I respected when I was unsure of decisions involving my fatherless sons, and Ben often was kind enough to help me think things through. I always hit the pancake breakfasts for clubs and charities, including the one at the airport for the Civil Air Patrol. When I mentioned going there one year, of course it was one of Ben's passions. (On his advice, I even took the boys and their friend to see if anyone might be interested in joining their youth corps.) When I was a teenager, I'd been a member of a guitar mass group, so sometimes we talked about music or discussed which hymns might appeal to which congregations. I was always honored that he asked my opinion, since he was a professional and I just a tinkerer whose memory bridged the 'old' and the 'new' Church music years.
Ben and I were also family in a couple of ways. For several years, my son had a best friend who shared his entire name... Stephen Joseph Bartholomew was the son of my body and Stephen Joseph Nathaniel, now a Marine, was the son of my heart. I used to call them "Stephen Joseph squared." Well, the Marine's aunt and the Simpsons were best friends; in fact, one couple were godparents to the son of the other. So, sometimes we talked about them.
I have six younger brothers and sisters, and through the marriages we have a very wide range of nationalities and religions. I have two Jewish nieces in a progressive community in New Jersey, Irish, Mexican, Greek, two families of Polish, English Presbyterian...So when Ben's son was "breaking his mother's heart" by marrying outside of the Roman Catholic Church, I could share how the Lord worked his will in my own family life. There's nothing to soothe a troubled soul like a factual witness!
Earlier this Wednesday morning, I'd been teasing him about playing 'follow the leader', since we'd visited just yesterday after mass at St. Agnes and here we were together again at St. John's. Now, here we were as fellow travelers again moving from the church to the parish hall. In a way I was glad to speak with him again, since Bob & Peggy were as concerned as I about how sad he was this Advent season. That is a time when everyone needs to be particularly solicitous of the widowed. Advent is harder than Christmas for so many. Ben was always so faith-filled that the change in him this year was apparent. The joy was missing, and replaced with something else that he was not yet comfortable sharing. Just before mass, Peggy had noticed that something was not quite right, but she didn't know what it was either.
"Ben, I have this little angel for the car," I said. "You see so many more people than I do. Do you think you could find someone who needs it?"
Ben took the angel from me and looked at it thoughtfully.
"It's for me...it's mine," he said. "I'm always in a hurry these days. I don't worry about it, though, since I have a very fast guardian angel."
"Benjamin," he said. "You remember who Benjamin is, don't you?"
I don't know why Ben wanted to talk about his name. By now, he should have learned not to play Bible trivia with me since I'm a history and Old Testament buff. I remember being impatient, since I was in a rush to finish many things before taking my sons to Chicago for Christmas, and all I wanted to do was to find a home for something beautiful.
"Of course I remember, Ben," I said. "He was the youngest and dearest child of Jacob, called Israel. His beloved wife, Rachel, died giving birth to him and Jacob was never happy ever after unless that boy was by his side. His full-blooded brother, Joseph, nearly killed Israel when he insisted his father allow Benjamin to be brought to him in Egypt during the famine."
Peggy now was making her way to the parish hall. I caught her satisfied smile as she watched us talking by Ben's car under the tree. She was probably relieved she escaped being saddled with another piece of paper or medal or something I'd picked up from the floor. I can be quite annoying, and no doubt she was very relieved that I was bothering someone else today!
"Benjamin", my friend Ben said as he loaded his car, "was much loved. Did I tell you that I'm going flying today?"
We talked some more, about nothing and everything as was our way together. He spoke several times about how very much he was looking forward to finishing the many things he must do--always quite a list!--before he finally would be free to fly.
Ben loved to fly. There, in his eyes each time he mentioned his plan to fly this evening, was the joy that I had missed in his manner. That was all that he really wanted to talk about. I teased him about having way too much to do and that he should have a kid chauffeur him around so that he could finish his notes and make his plans instead of having to keep his eyes on the road. Ben agreed that he was probably doing too much again, but it was obvious that being of service, being busy, and having just a few minutes in the Lord's beautiful sky was all that he wanted in life right now.
No longer worried about him for today, I left the pretty little trinket with him. Knowing Ben, it was in his pocket when whatever overtook him that night robbed us of his melodious voice.
Ben, our dear friend, please know how very much we all miss you.
This Benjamin was one man much loved, and I have no doubt that he knows now, as he rests in the arms of the Savior he so loved, just how very much.
I tried to give it to Peggy, but she was adamant that she was done with trinkets. My son Stephen and I had been delivering odds and ends to various charities, and the medal must have fallen out of one of the bags.
I continued out the door to my car. Ben Simpson was re-arranging his music and stands in his car. He didn't know, but I'd left him a music 'cheat book' for the Big Band era songs for the nursing homes with one of the priests, for him to receive as a surprise. I was curious if he'd gotten it yet, & surreptitiously looked for it in the very cluttered vehicle. This was pretty normal for me, as I flit about many places and have many interests. I joke that I'm "one of St. Anthony's kids", i.e. that I'm always finding things or remembering treasures discarded.
Ben wandered in much the same way, so we were related in many ways. For example, I always sought advice from men I respected when I was unsure of decisions involving my fatherless sons, and Ben often was kind enough to help me think things through. I always hit the pancake breakfasts for clubs and charities, including the one at the airport for the Civil Air Patrol. When I mentioned going there one year, of course it was one of Ben's passions. (On his advice, I even took the boys and their friend to see if anyone might be interested in joining their youth corps.) When I was a teenager, I'd been a member of a guitar mass group, so sometimes we talked about music or discussed which hymns might appeal to which congregations. I was always honored that he asked my opinion, since he was a professional and I just a tinkerer whose memory bridged the 'old' and the 'new' Church music years.
Ben and I were also family in a couple of ways. For several years, my son had a best friend who shared his entire name... Stephen Joseph Bartholomew was the son of my body and Stephen Joseph Nathaniel, now a Marine, was the son of my heart. I used to call them "Stephen Joseph squared." Well, the Marine's aunt and the Simpsons were best friends; in fact, one couple were godparents to the son of the other. So, sometimes we talked about them.
I have six younger brothers and sisters, and through the marriages we have a very wide range of nationalities and religions. I have two Jewish nieces in a progressive community in New Jersey, Irish, Mexican, Greek, two families of Polish, English Presbyterian...So when Ben's son was "breaking his mother's heart" by marrying outside of the Roman Catholic Church, I could share how the Lord worked his will in my own family life. There's nothing to soothe a troubled soul like a factual witness!
Earlier this Wednesday morning, I'd been teasing him about playing 'follow the leader', since we'd visited just yesterday after mass at St. Agnes and here we were together again at St. John's. Now, here we were as fellow travelers again moving from the church to the parish hall. In a way I was glad to speak with him again, since Bob & Peggy were as concerned as I about how sad he was this Advent season. That is a time when everyone needs to be particularly solicitous of the widowed. Advent is harder than Christmas for so many. Ben was always so faith-filled that the change in him this year was apparent. The joy was missing, and replaced with something else that he was not yet comfortable sharing. Just before mass, Peggy had noticed that something was not quite right, but she didn't know what it was either.
"Ben, I have this little angel for the car," I said. "You see so many more people than I do. Do you think you could find someone who needs it?"
Ben took the angel from me and looked at it thoughtfully.
"Benjamin," he said. "You remember who Benjamin is, don't you?"
I don't know why Ben wanted to talk about his name. By now, he should have learned not to play Bible trivia with me since I'm a history and Old Testament buff. I remember being impatient, since I was in a rush to finish many things before taking my sons to Chicago for Christmas, and all I wanted to do was to find a home for something beautiful.
"Of course I remember, Ben," I said. "He was the youngest and dearest child of Jacob, called Israel. His beloved wife, Rachel, died giving birth to him and Jacob was never happy ever after unless that boy was by his side. His full-blooded brother, Joseph, nearly killed Israel when he insisted his father allow Benjamin to be brought to him in Egypt during the famine."
Peggy now was making her way to the parish hall. I caught her satisfied smile as she watched us talking by Ben's car under the tree. She was probably relieved she escaped being saddled with another piece of paper or medal or something I'd picked up from the floor. I can be quite annoying, and no doubt she was very relieved that I was bothering someone else today!
"Benjamin", my friend Ben said as he loaded his car, "was much loved. Did I tell you that I'm going flying today?"
We talked some more, about nothing and everything as was our way together. He spoke several times about how very much he was looking forward to finishing the many things he must do--always quite a list!--before he finally would be free to fly.
Ben loved to fly. There, in his eyes each time he mentioned his plan to fly this evening, was the joy that I had missed in his manner. That was all that he really wanted to talk about. I teased him about having way too much to do and that he should have a kid chauffeur him around so that he could finish his notes and make his plans instead of having to keep his eyes on the road. Ben agreed that he was probably doing too much again, but it was obvious that being of service, being busy, and having just a few minutes in the Lord's beautiful sky was all that he wanted in life right now.
No longer worried about him for today, I left the pretty little trinket with him. Knowing Ben, it was in his pocket when whatever overtook him that night robbed us of his melodious voice.
Ben, our dear friend, please know how very much we all miss you.
This Benjamin was one man much loved, and I have no doubt that he knows now, as he rests in the arms of the Savior he so loved, just how very much.
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