TERRI MEETS THE PRESS:
How the Mainstream Media Dropped All the Balls in the Florida "Right-to-Die" Case

H. L. Mencken once defined “truth” as “something somehow discreditable to someone somewhere.” And so it has seemed with the mainstream news outlets –e.g., CNN, PBS, ABC, CBS, NBC, The Washington Post, the New York Times-- in their mostly one-sided and neglectful coverage of the Terri Schindler-Schiavo “right-to-die” case, especially in recent weeks.

For example,

The Late Great Comatose Vegetable Myth

Almost all major news outlets have consistently referred to Terri’s condition as either “comatose” or a “persistent vegetative state,” even after the release of secretly recorded videotapes of her (which can be viewed HERE), taken early this past year, which show her awake and responding to her parents, albeit in a subdued manner. One tape shows her tracking a balloon with her eyes and in apparent response to commands to do so. Another tape shows her smiling and looking up at her mother as her mother greets her.

Moreover, according to the Chicago Tribune, ”...[t]hree of [Terri] Schiavo's former nursing-home aides have filed affidavits that Schiavo was speaking rudimentary words and swallowing pudding and Jell-O in the mid-1990s.” (Courts to Choose Victor in Battle Over Woman's Life, October 12, 2003, Chicago Tribune)

A complete photocopy of the Affidavit about Terri’s condition pre-2000 by Nursing Assistant Carolyn Johnson can be read HERE. Nursing Assistant Heidi Law’s Affidavit can be read HERE. Regitered Nurse Carla Sauer Iyer's Affidavit can be read HERE.

Comatose? Vegetative? We don’t think so, and neither do the medical personnel who testified under oath to that effect on behalf of the Schindlers in their efforts to preserve her life, in addition to many neurologists and other experts who have viewed the videotapes since their release earlier this month. However, in almost all instances, the only medics interviewed by the press were those who testified for Michael Schiavo, many hired by his “right-to-die” activist lawyer George Felos, and many of whom just “happen” to be pro-euthanasia sycophants.

Follow the Money

Also left out of most mainstream media’s reports is the fact that, according to the Chicago Tribune, in 1992, Michael Schiavo filed a $20 million malpractice suit against his wife’s gynecologist, whom he deemed responsible for the heart attack which left her quadriplegic and severely brain-damaged. He argued that he needed such a large amount because he expected his wife to live a normal life span: ”…during a 1992 medical malpractice trial, Michael Schiavo did not bring up his wife's end-of-life wishes and pledged to use the money he was seeking for Terri Schiavo's care and rehabilitation.”

Mikey's Magical Mystery Memory Tour

But, notes the St. Petersburg Times in June 2001, once the court awarded only $2 million instead --$1.4 million for Terri’s care ($700K after legal and other expenses), which was placed in a trust fund, and $660K ($300K after legal and other expenses) for him in compensatory damages— Schiavo changed his tune: At that point, he “remembered” that Terri “told” him she made him “promise her” that he would not “let her live like that.” However, he could produce no living will to that effect, as required by Florida law. Nor could he produce any other concrete evidence of Terri’s “wishes.” Hmmmm. Maybe Felos used his telepathic powers on her.

Schiavo: A Credible Witness?

Moreover, the Tribune observes,

”[In 1998,] attorney Richard Pearse …issued a report to Judge Bruce Boyer, who then was handling the case. In the report, Pearse said Michael Schiavo was not a credible witness to his wife's end-of-life wishes because he waited several years before coming forward with the claim that she wanted to die. Pearse also noted that Michael Schiavo would benefit financially from her death and be able to move on with his life.”

Yet most of the major news media outlets neglected to bring up the original amount Schiavo sued for, much less the “reason” for that amount which he gave the court at the time. Nor have they pointed out the inconsistency, referred to by the Tribune, between Schiavo's 1992 pre-award testimony and what he has been telling the courts since winning his malpractice suit.

Uh, Who Paid for the Lawyers???

The mainstream media have also left out the fact that --as reported only in a couple of Florida newspapers between 1998 and 2001 (cf. the June 3, 2001 edition of the St. Petersburg Times)-- Schiavo, from 1994 to 2001, dipped into his wife’s $700K trust –earmarked only for her care— to pay for his legal fees in his attempts to get her feeding tube removed. Since 2001, the remaining $350K in Terri’s trust fund has been used for additional legal fees. As of October 12, 2003, of the $300K net of the award given to Schiavo, he has used zero for his legal fees. Again, said the Chicago Tribune earlier this month:

…After costs, Terri Schiavo's guardianship netted $700,000 and Michael Schiavo $300,000. Most of the $700,000 has been used for legal fees as Schiavo has pressed the case to fulfill what he says are his wife's wishes. According to Felos, Michael Schiavo has not used any of his own $300,000 for legal costs.

However, since the Tribune's October 12 was published, whenever interviewed on national radio and television --particularly CNN, MSNBC, and Sean Hannity's ABC Radio call-in program-- Felos consistently claimed that Schiavo has no more money left.

Paving the Way for Death

Except for the Chicago Tribune and some Florida newspapers, the news media seem also to have neglected to mention that, according to court records, from the time Terri’s health insurance and medicare coverage ceased to cover her care, Schiavo has consistently refused to release funds from her account to pay for any kind of rehabilitative therapy, such as therapy designed to help her swallow on her own and to better communicate with those around her. In addition, nursing home staffers Johnson and Law have testified (see links above) that Schiavo also ordered that no antibiotics be given to Terri for any infections she may develop.

In 2000, Schiavo also moved her from the nursing home she lived in since the early 1990s to a hospice with close ties to attorney Felos and the “right-to-die” movement. The hospice in question --Woodside House, run by the controversial Hospice of the Forida Suncoast-- is supposedly intended only for terminally ill patients expected to live for only a few months. Yet there was no indication at all that Terri's life was in danger either from illness or from her condition. Her life span --again by Schiavo's own admission during his 1992 malpractice suit-- was expected to be of normal length.

A Conflict of Interest

Another pertinent fact is a conflict of interest which the major news media have consistently neglected to mention, much less raise any scrutinizing questions about: According to local media (e.g., the St. Petersburg Times) as well as Schindler family members and friends, for the past seven years Michael Schiavo has been engaged to his live-in girlfriend, whom he met shortly after his 1993 malpractice award and with whom he has fathered two children. Obviously, Schiavo wasted no time finding another honey once his wife was in a nursing home and the money started rolling in.

The Culture of Death's Harry Potter Wannabe

Then there’s the matter of self-styled psychic and New Age mystic George Felos: NONE of the mainstream media have said so much as a syllable about Felos’ close, long-time, and well-documented ties to pro-death movements and groups, such as the pro-suicide Hemlock Society (now known as End-of-Life Choices), of which Felos was once a member. Nor have they mentioned anything at all about the Aleister Crowleyesque “thinking” and New Age beliefs which drive Felos’ pro-death ideology and law practice in the first place. Yet the very same media have wasted no time or space making much ado over the “religious right” beliefs and/or “anti-choice” affiliations of those who have been fighting for Terri’s right to live --up to an including the lawyers and politicians helping her parents.

Smoke or Swamp Gas?

In most instances in the real world, when the news media see even a wisp of smoke waft in –particularly from a conservative or Christian or pro-life direction-- they waste no time rooting out the fire behind it; or, should a fire fail to turn up, rubbing a couple of dry sticks together. Contrariwise, in their coverage of the Terri Schindler-Schiavo travesty, they seem to regard the massive cloud of smoke billowing in from Michael Schiavo’s camp as nothing more than a little Everglades swamp gas.

TERRI'S FAMILY BANNED FROM HOSPITAL:
"No Visitors" Order Placed by Michael Schiavo

For more details on this apparently vindictive move, go to this report at the Fox News web site.

[UPDATE, 5:33 PM]: Fox News reports that Terri's family has finally received permission to see her.

QUOTES FROM GEORGE FELOS’ BOOK:
“Right-to-Die” Lawyer Claims Psychic Powers

In his 2002 book, Litigation As Spiritual Practice (Blue Dolphin Publishing), Michael Schiavo's lawyer shows off his looney side:

Page 63 (Felos on his landmark Florida case, Estate of Browning):

"Such a deep, dark, silent blue. I stared as far into her eyes as I could, hoping to sense some glimmer of understanding, some hint of awareness. The deeper I dove, the darker became the blue, until the blue became the black of some bottomless lake. 'Mrs. Browning, do you want to die?...Do you want to die?' - I near shouted as I continued to peer into her pools of strikingly beautiful but incognizant blue. It felt so eerie."

Page 73 (On telepathically “hearing” a comatose patient “scream”):

"As I continued to stay beside Mrs. Browning at her nursing home bed, I felt my mind relax and my weight sink into the ground. I began to feel light-headed as I became more reposed. Although feeling like I could drift into sleep, I also experienced a sense of heightened awareness. As Mrs.
Browning lay motionless before my gaze, I suddenly heard a loud, deep moan and scream
and wondered if the nursing home personnel heard it....

“In the next moment, as this cry of pain and torment continued, I realized it was Mrs. Browning. I felt the mid-section of my body open and noticed a strange quality to the light in the room. I sensed her soul in agony. As she screamed I heard her say, in confusion, 'Why am I still here... why am I here?' My soul touched hers and in some way I communicated that she was still locked to her body. I promised I would do everything in my power to gain the release her soul cried for. with that the screaming immediately stopped. I felt like I was back in my head again."

Page 75 (Felos on his son telepathically communicating with him before he was conceived):

"Before our son was conceived, my then wife and I went through a long and arduous process trying to decide if we should have a child. Given that our marriage was never very stable, the familiar arguments against creating progeny seemed at times hard to overcome....One morning, while still generally engaged in that process, I walked into my office, and about half way to my desk was hammer-struck. While almost seeing stars like a comic book character, I heard the soul of my yet-to-be-conceived child emphatically shout: I'm ready to be born... will you stop this fooling around!'... The voice I heard was distinctly male, and I beamed with the idea I had a son - or was going to have a son - or sorta had a son out there - or something like that."

Page 216 (On telepathically communicating with the comatose Mrs. Browning the night of her death):

"As I always did, I looked into her eyes and shouted to her, hoping for some response or sign. After a minute or two I sat in the chair by the foot of her bed, closed my eyes, and started to meditate. Having 'soulspoken' with Mrs. Browning when we first met, I decided, with a measure of earnest self-inflation, to purposefully initiate such contact. I settled into my breath and noticed all the passing sounds move through my consciousness. As I deepened my relaxation, I reached out with my awareness to see if I could touch her soul-presence. From deep inside I repeated, 'Mrs. Browning, it's okay to leave your body. There is no reason to stay in this body. It is all right to die now.' A few minutes into my meditative encouragement, I was jarred by a high-pitched sarcastic cackle and the words, 'You're telling me to drop my body – and you can't even get out of your head.' Apparently, Mrs. Browning had a spirited sense of humor!"

Page 182 (Felos on his warning from God after almost causing a plane to crash via his psychic powers):

"…’Be careful what you think. You are more powerful than you realize'.....I was startled, humbled, and blessed by God's admonishment."

In our humble opinion, the above quotes speak for themselves regarding not only Mr. Felos’ credibility, but his sanity as well:

It used to be that if someone thought they were Napolean --or one of Santa's elves. or a space alien-- he or she would be locked up in the nearest looney bin lickety-split. But apparently in Florida it's just fine and dandy for an officer of the court to think he's Harry Potter.

If some born-again Christian attorney blathered such preposterous nonsense in public --much less publish it in a book for all the world to see-- he or she would have been laughed out of the legal community long ago.

And rightly so!

CLUELESS GEORGE FELOS...
...just doesn't get it!

From the report on the AOL News page:

''It is simply inhumane and barbaric to interrupt her death process,'' Felos said. ''Just because Terri Schiavo is not conscious doesn't mean she doesn't have dignity."

WHAT "death process"???

Terri was NOT undergoing a death process until a death process was imposed upon her by her husband through the courts on October 15.

Before that time, she was not dying by any stretch of the imagination --except, it seems, Felos' own demented New Age-molded imagination (about which see our October 16 and 17 blogs below). What is really "inhumane and barbaric" was Felos' and Schiavo's attempt to impose death by starvation and dehydration upon her.

The fact is that Terri was not hooked up to any respiratory, kidney, or heart-replacement machines. She was merely being fed and hydrated mechanically. She was undergoing no extraordinary measures to stay alive, unless on defines getting food and water as an "extraordinary measure" --which Felos apparently does.

However, thanks to Messr.s Felos and Schiavo's attempt to kill her, Terri may end up requiring a kidney machine to stay alive. So much for Felos' crocodile tears over Terri's dignity.

If one follows Felos' "argument" to its frighteningly logical conclusion, one ought also to remove food and water --whether supplied mechanically or naturally-- from quadraplegics, AIDS patients, all comatose persons, and bed-ridden elderly persons --all of whom will eventually die anyway.

Affer all, according to Felos' thinking, to let them have food and water is to "interrupt their death processes."

BREAKING NEWS: FLORIDA LAWMAKERS VOTE FOR TERRI:
Florida House Passes Bill Allowing Gov. Jeb Bush to Intercede

Read all about it in the Associated Press report Florida lawmakers jump into Schiavo case to let governor step in published in today's Gainesville Sun.

It seems the Florida House, in a 68 to 32 vote, decided that because Terri left no living will, the Governor has the right to intervene on behalf of family members who opposed her husband's decision to kill her.

However, the bill still has to pass the Florida Senate, which convenes this morning, before Gov. Bush can order Terri's feeding tube to be replaced. But even if this happens --and especially if Terri dies despite all efforts to save her life-- the matter will be far from closed: Envoy Magazine writer Pete Vere, reporting from the vigil at Terri's hospice, notes that

...we need an investigation of the possible abuse [Terri] may have suffered [13 years ago at the hands of husband]. Right now, [husband] Michael Schiavo has reportedly ordered that upon her death she be cremated without an autopsy. We cannot allow this to happen.

NEWS UPDATE, 10:13 pm: According to Fox News and ABC Radio News, Terri was transferred earlier this evening to a hospital in Clearwater in which she is now receiving hydration, to be followed by nutrition. In response, "husband" Micheal Schiavo has threatened to sue not only Gov. Jeb Bush, but also any medical personnel who comply with Bush's orders to treat her.

FLORIDA AND THE NAZIS, 70 YEARS LATER:
Ominous Parallels to the Third Reich’s “Mercy Killing” Program

"...[T]he bioethics departments in most universities are akin to the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in the Weimar Republic and the Third Reich. The doctors and "scientists" at the Institute gave scientific legitimacy to one of the most grisly, evil barbaric rampages in the history of mankind. That rampage is happening in America without the Gestapo and SS. We have the courts and our institutions willing to couch the horror in legalism and euphemisms." --Diane Alden (10/17/03; newsmax.com)

On October 8, 1933 --exactly 70 years and one week before a Florida court ordered the starvation death of Terri Schindler-Schiavo-- The New York Times published an Oct. 7 Associated Press wire service story on the then-new Nazi government's announced plans to deal with the infirmed.

Following is that report, in full, as it appeared in the Times (emphases added):

Nazi Plan to Kill Incurables to End Pain; German Religious Groups Oppose Move.

BERLIN, Oct. 7 --The Ministry of Justice in a detailed memorandum explaining the Nazi aims regarding the German penal code today announced its intention to ,b>authorize physicians to end the sufferings of incurable patients. The memorandum, still lacking the force of law, proposed that "it shall be made possible for physicians to end the tortures of incurable patients, upon request, in the interests of true humanity." This proposed legal recognition of euthanasia --the act of providing a painless and peaceful death --raised a number of fundamental problems of a religious, scientific and legal nature.

The Catholic newspaper Germania hastened to observe: "The Catholic faith binds the conscience of its followers not to accept this method of shortening the sufferings of incurables who are tormented by pain." In Lutheran circles, too, life is regarded as something that God alone can take. A large section of the German people, it was expected in some interested circles, might ignore the provisions for euthanasia, which overnight has become a widely-discussed word in the Reich.

In medical circles the question was raised as to just when a man is incurable and when his life should be ended. According to the present plans of the Ministry of Justice, incurability would be determined not only by the attending physician, but also by two official doctors who would carefully trace the history of the case and personally examine the patient.

In insisting that euthanasia shall be permissible only if the accredited attending physician is backed by two experts who so advise, the Ministry believes a guarantee is given that no life still valuable to the State will be wantonly destroyed.

The legal question of who may request the application of euthanasia has not been definitely solved. The Ministry merely has proposed that either the patient himself shall "expressly and earnestly" ask it, or "in case the patient no longer is able to express his desire, his nearer relatives, acting from motives that do not contravene morals so request."

Of course, the Nazi policy was implemented and “incurable patients” were routinely put to death or “allowed” to die (via starvation and withdrawal of medical treatment) as an act of Nazi “mercy,” "dignity," and “liberation” from suffering –the very same arguments presented by Terri’s “husband” Michael Schiavo and his “right-to-die” activist lawyer George Felos. (One suspects that Herr Felos' dehumanizing anthropology and anti-Christian New Age "spirituality" would've fit in quite nicely with the Third Reich.)

Eventually, and in very short order, the Nazis’ euthanasia policy was expanded to include all those deemed to have a “low quality of life” and therefore regarded as a burden on the Reich’s newly nationalized health care system: By 1939, the Nazi’s “mercy killing” program included “unproductive” elderly; the retarded; the mentally ill; the senile; epileptics; psychiatric patients; the handicapped, deaf, and blind; and those who were chronically ill for more than five years. Infants born with any of mental or physical disabilities who were unfortunate enough to be born in Reich hospitals were immediately removed from their mothers and killed.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Twenty-five years ago, popular Evangelical Christian writer and teacher Francis A. Schaeffer and nationally-known right-to-life pediatrician (and later US Surgeon General) C. Everett Koop, also an Evangelical, joined forces to oppose Roe v.Wade and abortion-on-demand knowing full well what the implications of that decision and its “right to privacy” fabrication would lead to. They also knew the history of the Nazi euthanasia program and didn’t want to see it repeated.

But when they openly predicted that precisely what is happening today in Florida would be the next thing to come down the Culture of Death pike, the secular media –and more than a few Christians—dismissed them as alarmists and crackpots.

As it turns out, they were prophets.

THE "ROE V.WADE"OF THE EUTHANASIA MOVEMENT:
30 Years Later, "Right to Privacy" Is Used Once Again to Kill the Innocent

In her insightful article The Troubling Business of Fading Away, writer Cecilia H. Martin of the Catholic Advocate newsletter notes some striking similarities between the Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which ushered in abortion-on-demand, and the Florida 2003 Schindler v.Schiavo decision:

...For Catholic pro-lifers, (in actuality no other type of Catholic is Catholic) Terri’s case is arguably the Roe vs Wade of the euthanasia movement. While Schindler vs Schiavo did not move to the U.S. Supreme Court, as it matriculates through the Florida courts it in being tried in the media, on the Internet and in the highly charged swirl of public opinion.

The fabricated notion that a "right to privacy" was found in the Constitution upon which abortion on demand was predicated, bears a striking resemblance to the hinge upon which Felos has hung his case, that Terri once told her husband she didn’t want to live sustained by artificial means.

Hearsay evidence of a 26-year-old woman, belatedly expressed, (only after a substantial malpractice monetary award) by a surrogate/guardian husband who denies his wife any rehabilitative measures, is now used as "privacy rights" to kill her. The talons of the death-culture that rake the baby from the womb now sever the disabled from their tenuous grasp on life in the name of privacy.

...St. Petersburg‘s citizenry were shocked to read in local papers that the alternative metal band, Hell on Earth, is planning an on-stage suicide of a terminally ill fan to take place on October 4th. The purpose is to "raise awareness for dying with dignity." The fan wishes to put an end to "back alley suicides."

Apparently, this is not a hoax; Fox news anchor Rita Cosby carried the story twice on national television. In Florida, it is a second-degree felony to assist a suicide. Lead singer, Billy Tourtelot, who is a strong supporter of physician-assisted suicide, claims he’s not "assisting." "This is about standing up for what you believe in...What I’m doing may be immoral, but it’s not illegal," says Billy. St. Petersburg’s State Theater as well as another club have denied the band a venue. Tourtelot, nevertheless insists the show will go on. The St. Petersburg police are on the alert.

Physician-assisted suicide is euthanasia. Euthanasia is illegal. Tell that to ["right-to-die" activist lawyer George] Felos who asserted on national TV, "We’re just carrying out Terri wishes," -by starving her to death.

How many elderly people with impatient relatives will become instantly vulnerable once Tourtelot and Felos’ macabre ideology becomes sacrosanct law?

HOLY COMMUNION DENIED TO DYING CATHOLIC:
The Latest Outrage Against Terri Schindler-Schiavo

According to the latest news update on the Schindler family's web site, Terri's so-called "husband" Michael Schiavo has refused to allow his dying Catholic wife to fully receive the last rites from her priest:

...Monsignor Thaddeus Malanowski, who has been Terri’s spiritual provider for over 3 years, was told he may not administer to her the sacrament of Holy Communion. Monsignor was informed by police at Hospice that he would be arrested if he tried to administer the Catholic woman the sacrament.

In a statement to the press, Michael Schiavo’s attorney, George Felos stated that the reason for this was that he didn’t want “anyone to do something that would cause Terri distress”.

Really now.

How a dying Catholic woman would be "distressed" by receiving a Catholic sacrament from her Catholic priest, the non-Catholic Felos doesn't bother to say. After all, for years both Felos and Schiavo have been telling the courts and the press that Terri was in a "permanent vegetative state" and oblivious to her surroundings. How then could she get "distressed" by any external stimuli?

Moreover, how does Herr Felos know Terri would be "distressed" by her priest administering the viaticum or anything else?

Oh, wait a minute. We forget that Herr Felos has the ability to communicate with Terri telepathically. Or so he claims (cf., our Oct. 16 and 17 entries on Felos titled, respectively, "MICHAEL SCHIAVO'S NEO-NAZI* NEW AGE LAWYER" and "MORE ON MICHAEL SCHIAVO’S LOONEY LAWYER" below.)

Nevertheless, Herr Felos, what about the possibility of causing Terri distress by starving her to death???

As Bugs Bunny would say, "Nyaaah. What a maroon."

ON THE FLORIDA COURT'S EUTHANASIA ORDER:
A Catholic Bishop Speaks Out Loud and Clear....

...unlike the Catholic Bishop of St. Petersburg, Florida:

"If you establish and apply the principle that you can kill 'unproductive' fellow human beings then woe betide us all when we become old and frail!

"If one is allowed to kill the unproductive people then woe betide the invalids who have used up, sacrificed and lost their health and strength in the productive process.

"If one is allowed forcibly to remove one's unproductive fellow human beings then woe betide loyal soldiers who return to the homeland seriously disabled, as cripples, as invalids.

"If it is once accepted that people have the right to kill 'unproductive' fellow humans--and even if initially it only affects the poor defenseless mentally ill--then as a matter of principle murder is permitted for all unproductive people, in other words for the incurably sick, the people who have become invalids through labor and war, for us all when we become old, frail and therefore unproductive.

"Then, it is only necessary for some secret edict to order that the method developed for the mentally ill should be extended to other 'unproductive' people, that it should be applied to those suffering from incurable lung disease, to the elderly who are frail or invalids, to the severely disabled soldiers.

"Then none of our lives will be safe any more. Some commission can put us on the list of the 'unproductive,' who in their opinion have become worthless life. And no police force will protect us and no court will investigate our murder and give the murderer the punishment he deserves.

"Who will be able to trust his doctor any more?

"He may report his patient as 'unproductive' and receive instructions to kill him. It is impossible to imagine the degree of moral depravity, of general mistrust that would then spread even through families if this dreadful doctrine is tolerated, accepted and followed.

"Woe to mankind, woe to our German nation if God's Holy Commandment 'Thou shalt not kill,' which God proclaimed on Mount Sinai amidst thunder and lightning, which God our Creator inscribed in the conscience of mankind from the very beginning, is not only broken, but if this transgression is actually tolerated and permitted to go unpunished."

--Cardinal Clemens von Galen,
Archbishop of Munster, Germany
August 3, 1941

MORE ON MICHAEL SCHIAVO’S LOONEY LAWYER:
New Age Pro-Death Activist George Felos Thinks He’s Psychic…

…among other things, according to this message board discussion among several pro-Terri advocates.

For example:

[Post 1]: On pages 181-182 of his book (Litigation As Spiritual Practice), Felos claims that merely by visualizing a plane crash during a flight he was taking back to Florida, he caused the plane to begin to crash and that God spoke to him at that moment to warn him,

"’Be careful what you think. You are more powerful than you realize'.....I was startled, humbled, and blessed by God's admonishment."

[Post 2]: Felos is the real "tin-foil-hat" nut job and people who can see the forest for the trees recognize that.

[Post 3]: …Right-to-diers who make the news, like Nancy Cruzan's father and George Felos, talk about releasing the person/soul from their body….

[Post 4]: IMO, Melone got her info on Cruzan from an email to her.
Perhaps Felos used his telepathic powers to give Melone some pointers.

[Post 5]: Too bad he can't recall and edit all those books in which he reveals his wacky thinking patterns. If his acolytes edit enough books with black magic markers, they might be able to undo some of the harm his own words caused his reputation.

It's apparent that Felos thinks he is on a "higher plane" than the rest of us. I hope Floridians have learned enough about him to know they should distance themselves from him.

[Post 6]: …George Felos, the new age lawyer, student of reincarnation, (If "Felos" means cat, does he get 9 lives?) who wants to '"free us" from our bodily chains.

[Post 7]: Isn't it strange that Felos says that the unconscious Mrs. Browning could communicate with him, but he insists that Terri can't communicate with her own family whom she's known for almost 40 years?

And last but not least:

[Post 8]: Curios.

One the one hand, it's considered a sign of insanity for someone to think they are just one person like Napoleon.

On the other hand, the opinion of someone like Felos, who thinks he is "all," is taken seriously by an American judge who has jurisdiction over the lives of incapacitated people.

BTW, does anyone know if Felos has said he can use his telepathic powers to contact the spirits of dead? He says he communicated, mind-to-mind, with that elderly lady who wanted to be "free of her body."

Of course, if he believes in re-incarnation, he has to locate the new incarnation of the previously-dead person, before he can communicate with them.

It seems the patients are running the madhouse known as the Florida court system.

An article on Felos' New Age "spirituality" and how it influences his law practice can be found HERE at the St. Petersburg Times web site. This article notes the following about a case Felos litigated in 1988:

...the case of Estelle Browning ...gained him a reputation as the person to see when you want to let someone die. Browning, of Dunedin, had written a living will in 1985, saying she did not want to be kept alive by artificial means if she ever became ill. A year later, she had a stroke. But the nursing home refused to stop feeding her because she was not technically brain dead. Her cousin and former roommate, Doris Herbert, asked Felos to take the case.

He wanted to see Browning for himself. She could not speak, but Felos says his spiritual side picked up on something. He says her soul cried out to his soul and asked, "Why am I still here?"

Browning died in 1989 of natural causes while the case was still unresolved, but the suit has had a lasting effect on the law. In 1990, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that a living will can allow caregivers to withhold food and water from an incapacitated person, even when death is not imminent.

It seems the patients are running the madhouse known as the Florida court system.

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, POPE JOHN PAUL II:
After Twenty-Five Years, He's Still Going and Refuses to Give Up...

...despite suffering from advanced Parkinson's Disease and other serious ailments.

Truly amazing.

Columnist Maggie Gallagher has a wonderful piece reflecting on John Paul's remarkable 25 years in the Chair of Peter. Also, the Vatican's own web site has special links celebrating Pope John Paul II's anniversary, including one for the Catholic faithful and other admirers to email their greetings to him.

Incidentally, the word through the Catholic e-grapevine is that the Holy Father has been trying to intervene on behalf of Terry Schindler-Schiavo. We pray that Judge Greer will heed the Pope's pleas to spare her after he rejected Gov. Jeb Bush's.

"WHEN IS THE BITCH GONNA DIE?":
Michael Schiavo on His Wife Terri's Condition in 1995-96...

...according to an article quoting the sworn testimony of Carla Sauer Iyer, "a registered nurse who was employed at Palm Garden of Largo Convalescent Center in Largo, Fla., from April 1995 to July 1996, while Terri Schiavo was a patient there."

In addition to this heartfelt expression of love and loyalty to his wife, Schiavo also asked on other occassions, "When is she going to die?" and "Has she died yet?" Notes the article, "Others at Palm Garden also testified similarly in sworn affidavits. All swore that Terri had spoken to them frequently and backed Iyer's recollections."

A complete photocopy of Nurse Iyers' Affidavit can be read in full HERE

The same article notes that according to attorney Wesley J. Smith, Schiavo "realiz[ed] back in the early 1990s he would inherit $750,000 if Terri died, and began to refuse medical treatment such as antibiotics for infections and so forth. In 1998, when Terri didn't die he filed a request with Judge Greer to be allowed to remove her feeding tube, and that’s how this whole business started."

Sure sounds like Litigation As Homicide to us. With "spouses" like that, and greedy shysters all too eager to "help" them (for the right price, of course), who needs the Mafia?

MICHAEL SCHIAVO'S NEO-NAZI* NEW AGE LAWYER:
Is Terri Schindler-Schiavo a Test Case for Culture of Death Activist George Felos?

It seems that George Felos, the Florida lawyer spearheading the drive to kill Terri via judicial fiat, is a nationally known "right-to-die" activist and New Age pagan intent upon establishing legalized euthanasia in his state as well as all over the USA, his repeated denials of such intentions notwithstanding. (Actions speak louder than rhetoric, Herr Felos.)

The evidence? A book Felos wrote last year titled Litigation As Spiritual Practice

According to the publisher's blurb on this book --described as "the excitement and drama of the courtroom, and the ecstasy and anguish of spiritual evolution in a combative environment"-- Felos "became the legal advocate of Estelle Browning's right-to-die and in the process plumbed the depths of death and dying and spearheaded a social revolution to enable death with dignity in the state of Florida. Felos uses this case and Fellouzis vs. United States of America --a decade-long tax battle sending him to Hong Kong's back alleys in search of antique jades and ivories-- as framework to interweave the story of his law practice and spiritual unfoldment."

Apparently what is meant by "spiritual unfoldment" is discovering the "right" of neo-Nazi* Culture of Death New Agers to do away with "useless eaters."

Sieg Heil, Herr Felos.

*(EDITOR'S NOTE: By "neo-Nazi" we mean, of course, not that an individual or group so named is necessarily Neo-Nazi in any formal sense, but rather that such has adopted any attitude or theory which is identifiably Nazi in origin. In this case, i.e., the philosophical relationship between euthanasia and the so-called "right-to-die," please see the article Euthanasia in the Third Reich: Lessons for Today?, first published in Volume 18:1 of Ethics & Medicine.)

TERRI IS NOT IN A COMA:
The Video Evidence Can Be Seen HERE

These video clips show Terri Schindler-Schiavo responding directly to various kinds of stimuli, including the following via the above link:

--"During an examination, Terri shows CLEAR annoyance with being tickled with a cotton swab."

--"Terri is seen lying quietly until her mother is in view. Terri's eyebrows pop up, she smiles broadly at her mother and she vocalizes when her mother asks her how she is feeling."

--"During an examination, Terri is asked to track a balloon with her eyes. She does and the Dr. SAYS 'You see that, don't you!' During his testimony, however, he called Terri 'totally unresponsive'."

--"Terri is shown reacting to her mother's affection with a glowing smile."

Comatose??? "Vegetative state"??? The evidence says "NO!"

THE TERRI SCHINDLER-SCHIAVO SMOKING GUN VIDEOS:
Secretly-Made Videotapes Disprove "Persistent Vegetative State" Claim

Yesterday the parents of allegedly comatose Florida patient Terri Schindler-Schiavo, who is scheduled for a court-ordered slow execution by starvation and dehydration today at 2PM, released to the news media videotapes which clearly show Terri fully awake and breathing on her own, and not in a coma as her philandering husband (who stands to earn a cool mil $ upon her death) has been claiming for years.

Moreover, Terri's parents have told reporters that when told earlier this year of her impending execution, Terri "bolt[ed] upright and [tried] to get out of her chair."

The court's reaction to this breaking evidence was to immediately rescind its order, right?

Wrong!

In fact, not only is the court going through with its execution order, the court has threatened Terri's father, Robert Schindler, who covertly made the tapes, with arrest and prosecution if he does not immediately turn over all copies to the court.

Truly, we live in what Pope John Paul II has labeled "the Culture of Death."

THE NEW NEO-STALINISTS:
Or, How to Promote Tolerance for Yourself by Persecuting Others

It seems that the gay and lesbian community of a certain city in La-La-Land (aka California) is up in arms because one Jeff Culbreath, a devout Catholic fellow who owns a small printing business, refused to accept a job printing business cards promoting a gay and lesbian organization. Culbreath told his would-be client that he objected to taking part in the promotion a "lifestyle" which, according to the dictates of his faith and conscience, is immoral.

Rather than simply tell the fellow, "OK, then, we'll take our business elsewhere," as any reasonable adult would do, his would-be client and her komrades decided to try make his life a living Hell by pummeling him with hate e-mails, crank phone calls, and a campaign to shut down his business for being a "bigot."

In other words, it's "okay" for gays and lesbians to follow their consciences by practicing their "lifestyles," but it's not "okay" for non-gays and non-lesbians --especially if they're practicing, believing Christians-- to follow their consciences by refusing to engage in promoting those lifestyles.

Harvey Milk, meet Joe Stalin.

OUR COMMENTS FEATURE IS KAPUT...
...at Least Until We Can find a Better Program

Because of the complaints we've received about how difficult it's been using our Enetation comments program, we've removed it and are looking into an alternative plug-in.

If you have any recommendations, please e-mail us at dpinstitut@aol.com

Thanks for your patience.

THE KAY REPORT REDUX:
What the Mainstream Media Won't Publish

If one reads accounts in the Washington Post or New York Times about what was revealed this past week to Congress by David Kay, the leading U.S. weapons inspector sent to Iraq in search of evidence of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction, one gets the impression that Mr. Kay came away empty-handed.

But according the an editorial in yesterday's New York Post nothing could be further from the truth. Notes the editor, in part:

Did Kay find nuclear-tipped ICBMs on their launch pads?

Of course not.

But evidence of biological, chemical and nuclear programs in various stages of development - from just-getting-started to possibly can-be-deployed-in-a-week?

Yes. And he found massive evidence of big-time coverups by Saddam and his evil elves.

And Kay says he's barely scratched the surface - though, again, what's been found already is impressive enough.

"We have discovered dozens of WMD-related program activities and significant amounts of equipment that Iraq concealed from the United Nations during the inspections that began in late 2002," Kay told Congress Thursday. Including:

* "A clandestine network of laboratories and safehouses . . . that contained equipment . . . suitable for continuing [chemical and biological weapons] research."

* A prison lab, "possibly used in human testing" of biological weapons.

* "Reference strains of biological organisms, one of which can be used to produce biological weapons."

* Hidden documents and equipment, useful for enriching uranium for nukes.

* "UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicles] not fully declared."

* "Plans and advanced design work for long-range missiles."

* "Clandestine attempts between late 1999 and 2002 to obtain from North Korea technology related to [long-range] ballistic missiles . . . cruise missiles and other prohibited equipment."

There's more - like reports by Iraqi scientists of the development of a production line that "could be switched to produce anthrax in one week if the seed stock were available."

Why hasn't even more been found?

"Iraq's WMD programs spanned more than two decades, involved thousands of people, billions of dollars and were elaborately shielded by deception operations that continued even beyond the end of Operation Iraqi Freedom," said Kay.

He noted that two key scientists were shot after talking to his team. And that chemical weapons might be stored at any of 130 known Iraqi "Ammunition Storage Points."

How many have been inspected? Ten.

Given that many exceed 50 square miles, we'd say that's pretty good work for three months. But much work plainly lies ahead.

A KENNEDY FAMILY TRADITION:
Ahh-nuld Follows In His Brother-in-Law's Footsteps

We have only two words to say to all the Democrats indignantly caterwauling about Arnold Schwarzenegger's womanizing (which, of course, is totally inexcusable):

"Teddy Kennedy"

MAYBE SHE JUST LOOKED OLD FOR HER AGE:
Bush Critic's 40-Year-Old CIA Wife Was Undercover for 30 Years...

...at least according to former CIA analyst Larry Johnson, who claimed to have "trained" with Valerie Plame, the wife of former Clinton-era-Ambassador-turned-Bush-critic Joseph Wilson.

Hmmmm. We had no idea the CIA recruited 10-year-olds.

OF ANGELS, ROCKY ROADS …AND HEROISM:
A Local Singer’s Battle and Triumph

We were heart-broken to learn this past weekend that Grace Griffith, a very talented and much-loved Washington, DC-area-based singer-songwriter well-known to fans of traditional and contemporary Celtic and folk music here and around the US, faces a long, hard, rocky road ahead in the form of advancing Parkinson’s Disease, a gradually crippling neurological disorder.

Anyone who has experienced Griffith’s music, whether on CD or (especially) in one of her small, intimate local concerts (which, sadly, have become much less frequent), can testify to the magic she works with her voice, a magic which goes straight into the listener’s heart and soul. This is to be expected, for Griffith pours her own heart and soul into her performances; so much so that, even long before PD set in, the experience would, she has said, leave her completely drained both emotionally and spiritually at the end of a concert. Not surprisingly, then, she developed a large, loyal following over her 20-plus-year-long music career.

But even more noteworthy than her wonderful voice (which, happily, remains unaffected by PD), Griffith is known among friends and colleagues for her kindness and generosity, especially towards other lesser-known singers, songwriters, and musicians --including one (about whom more in due course) who would later surpass her in fame and attention. For example, although she is a talented composer and lyricist in her own right she rarely records her own work, preferring instead to give other artists a chance to give their work more exposure.

In a highly competitive field like professional music, it’s unusual for one recording artist to risk his or her own career advancement for the sake of another performer. To do so would be seen by many as foolhardy rather than as what it really is –unselfish and noble.

Yet in early 1996, Griffith did exactly that when she convinced her record company, Blix Street, to sign on the phenomenally talented singer Eva Cassidy, who at that time was playing Washington, DC area pubs and other small venues. Once Blix Street followed Griffith's advice, Cassidy become an international star almost overnight, and continues to remain popular in Europe and Canada since her untimely death later that same year. Griffith's career, on the other hand, seems to have been eclipsed by Cassidy's.

In an article she wrote earlier this year, Griffith downplayed her risky act of generosity because, she noted, she had struggled with the decision to carry it out:

…My debate was between my better self and my ? less-than-better self. The better self was inclined to pass her beautiful music along regardless of any potential cost to my own position, because beauty should be shared. The less-than-better self was voicing concern that I might be shooting myself in the foot by making my record label aware of an artist of such caliber -- I have often been accused of not being competitive enough in a competitive world, and I was thinking twice about this one. But I am a person who must follow a certain way to be comfortable in my own skin.

In our opinion, not only was what Griffith did objectively praiseworthy in and of itself, the very fact that it was the result of a spiritual struggle -- a conflict between one's better inclination to serve another at risk to oneself and one's lesser impulse to “look out for number one”-- made her choice something more than merely praiseworthy.

It made her choice heroic.

The same choice would not have been as significant --or heroic-- if it had been made by someone who had no such conflict to overcome. Such battles within ourselves –battles, ultimately, between self-giving love and self-serving egotism-- are often more important than any other battles we may find ourselves engaged in, even when we end up "losing" in the end:

For when such a choice is made we enter the ranks of the angels.

In her case, Grace Griffith's battle between her "better self" and "less-than-better self" ended in a triumph rather than a loss, for it resulted in a great accomplishment: Were it not for Griffith’s efforts to promote her younger, much lesser-known “competitor” --who also happened to be one of her most ardent fans-- the world would probably not have known about Eva Cassidy.

For that gift, as well as for the gift of her own music, the world has Grace Griffith to thank.

"SAPPY ECUMENICISM" VS. TRUTH-SEEKING:
Why Religious Debate Is Important, Now More Than Ever

Two years ago, in response to movie actress Nicole Kidman's decision to leave the Church of Scientology (a popular Los Angeles-based sci-fi-oriented "self-help" cult she and now-ex Tom Cruise belonged to) and return to the Catholic Church of her youth, taking her children with her, National Review writer Arthur Stuttaford made the following astute observations in his article Scientology Chic:

....Ask most Americans, and they will tell you about their respect for the spiritual, but it is a sloppy and uninformed devotion, a pastiche piety with no intellectual force behind it, more Hallmark than holy, the perfect background for a new cult recruit. Ironically, Nicole Kidman herself provided an example of this mindset in a 1998 interview with Newsweek. Asked about her religious beliefs, the actress replied, "there is a little Buddhism, a little Scientology. I was raised Catholic, and a big part of me is still a Catholic girl."

Hand in hand with such an attitude is an unwillingness to debate the religious beliefs of others. Such debate is now believed to be insensitive at best, bigoted and hateful at worst. These days everyone is meant to be a little bit Buddhist, Catholic, Scientologist , whatever. A sappy ecumenicism is now America's civic religion, and it appears to include just about everyone (other, interestingly, than atheists and agnostics). We are taught that such supposedly inclusive tolerance is the hallmark of a tolerant society, when, in fact, it is precisely the opposite. True religious tolerance is the acceptance of the right of others to follow a different creed. In our ersatz, contemporary version, however, it is denied that there are any different creeds. Instead, we are encouraged to think that all religions are basically the same, just different routes to the same transcendental Truth.

In the name of "diversity," we try to erase difference. When it comes to religious belief, this is a country chary of controversy and anxious about argument. In the interest of fraudulent civility and soi-disant "respect" we have removed the right of the religious to disagree with each other. On the face of it, traditional religious distinctions remain, but all too often they have been trivialized and shrunk down to the superficial, reduced to a matter of folklore or ethnic heritage, nothing more consequential, say, than a choice of headgear: Yarmulke, or turban?

This is a mistake. Old-style rigorous religious debate was bruising, tough, and frequently impolite, but it served a function. Homo Sapiens is a credulous creature, ready to believe just about anything, but, fortunately, he has an innate love of argument. Controversy sharpened our great faiths and pushed them, however painfully, towards some form of intellectual coherence. More than that, it acted as a filter for the worst of the nonsense that people would otherwise be tempted to accept. Now that filter has disappeared. The more established religions are gutted, sunk into PC blandness, or, ironically, introspective fundamentalism. In their intellectual retreat they have left behind a spiritual landscape in which anything goes....

SANITY AND REASON ABOUT "THE PASSION":
David Horowitz Reviews Mel Gibson's New Film

One of our heroes, former far-left activist turned conservative activist David Horowitz, who now devotes his time blowing the whistle on the hypocrisy and deceptions of liberalism and the Left, had the following to say on his web log in defense of Mel Gibson's new film, which he viewed earlier this year.

One of the most remarkable aspects of Horowitz's review is that he is not only not a Catholic, he's not a Christian of any kind. He's a secular Jew.

....Gibson's film is an artistic vision and must be judged that way. ...It is an awesome artifact, an overpowering work. I can't remember being so affected by a film before. It is extremely painful to watch and yet the violence is never gratuitous. You never feel like you want to take your eyes off the screen. It is a wracking emotional journey which never strays from its inspirational purpose. It is as close to a religious experience as art can get.

It is not anti-Semitic, as the film-burners have charged. [For example,] Jesus is referred to in the film as "rabbi," and there is never any distancing of Jesus or his disciples from their Jewishness....

...The moral of this Christian story -- of Mel Gibson's film -- is that we all killed Jesus -- Jew and Gentile alike -- and tortured him, and we do so every day. But if you believe the vision that Gibson has rendered so searingly and so well, Jesus forgives us for that very act. Whosoever will give up cruelty and love his brother will enter paradise. That is the message that Gibson has framed in his extraordinary work. The effort to shut down his film before it opens is just another station of the cross.

HURRCANE ISABEL ON THE MOVE:
Storm Heading for Virginia, Maryland, and DC

Back in 1985, Virginia Beach-based televangelist Pat Robertson said he prayed away Hurricane Gloria, which was threatening his newly built Christian Broadcasting Network facilities there.

So where is Robertson now that we need him?

ATTACK OF THE PHANTOM CHADS:
California's Recall Election is Recalled, At Least for Now

It seems the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found a problem with the voting machines in six counties --the same machines which, albeit rather antiquated, were used to help elect Governor Gray Davis only 12 months ago.

These are punch-card machines similar to those used in Florida prior to the Gore-Bush election fiasco. Thus, apparently fearing the prospect of hanging chads, the judges decided the recall election should be post-poned until the machines' more modern replacements sometime next Spring.

But given the track record of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals --the same folks who issued that lamebrained decision a few months ago which found the Pledge of Allegiance "unconstitutional"-- the decision may not stand once it reaches the Supreme Court, which it may very well do in the very near future.

SO MUCH FOR FEMINISM ON CAMPUS:
The Washington Post Profiles Georgetown U's "Sexpert"

(Hey, ya gotta do something to keep those circulation numbers up, right?)

The "sexpert" in question is a college student who writes a "dating and sex advice" column for the student newspaper of the ostensibly Catholic Georgetown University. She seems to think of herself as a "feminist" and advocates forms of dating which end with sitting and talking rather than heading for the nearest bedroom.

So far, so good.

But she has also clearly jettisoned one of the better (and one of the central) principles of feminism which got that movement started in the first place: Namely, decrying casual sexual encounters ("hookups") with men who want the goodies but don't want the demands and requirements of a real relationship.

For example, she writes:

"It's my opinion that if you're completely realistic about what you're getting out of the situation, there's absolutely no harm in a hookup. People have needs, right? I think the problem comes when people expect a relationship to come out of it. That's the hard part."

IOW, gals, why not think and behave just like all those self-centered guys you call "jerks"?

Betty Friedan, call your therapist.

DISSING THE VICTIMS AND HEROES OF 9/11:
When NetLoons Have Waaaaaay Too Much Time on Their Hands

Unfortunately, horrible tragedies like 9/11 seem to draw all sorts of kooks and nincumpoops out of the woodwork.

Such is the case with a truly weird web site, apparently authored by someone trying to pull our collective cyberlegs in order to push some lunatic-fringe political agenda. The theme of this site is that the "official story" (whatever that means) of what happened on 9/11 is a "hoax." (You know, just like the Holocaust, heliocentricity, evolution, and those manned landings on the moon.)

For a more detailed look at, and debunking of, this strange "theory" see our commentary at our Bullies 'N' Bozos web log.

MORE 9/11 RECOLLECTIONS AND REFLECTIONS:
At the Catholic Web Log Heart, Mind, and Strength

Many thanks to HMS blogger Kevin Miller at that site for posting these accounts by his readers of their experiences on that awful day:

Among these are the following powerful and poignant accounts written by one of his readers, a New York City resident, during the first three days after that tragedy:

From Day Two, 9/12/01:
Yesterday
and
Overcoming Evil with Good

From Day Four, 9/14/01:
Life Goes On

Several more moving recollections and thoughtful reflections, including by Mr. Miller, can be read starting HERE

"WHERE WERE YOU
When the World Stopped Turning on that September Day?"

Country Music singer-songwriter Alan Jackson's reflections on 9/11

Listen to the song and read the lyrics HERE

A profoundly moving piece, whether you're a Country-Western Music fan or not.

"LEST WE FORGET: REFLECTIONS ON 9/11"
by Megan, a Catholic College Student in Chicago, Illinois

On the Eve of September 11, 2003: Lest We Forget

At the end of August, I was at the site of another memorial of another national tragedy. As I looked down into the crystal clear waters of Pearl Harbor at the remnants of the USS Arizona, I couldn't help but think of 9/11. And as I watched the images of the Japanese fighter planes bombing the naval base and the battleships, I could not help but remember 9/11. I was not alive during Pearl Harbor--so 9/11 is like my generation's Pearl Harbor. And ironically it happened during the 60th anniversary year of that day.

I think about my generation. We're starved for lack of heroes. Our teenagers look to Madonna, Eminem, and Britney Spears as role models. Let us take this time to remember and honor real heroes, the firemen and other workers that gave their lives to help their fellow men in trouble. Let us remember them and the ultimate sacrifice they paid. Lest we forget.

I'm proud to be an American. I know that America has her faults and her sins. But I also see alot of good in the USA and that good was shown in the heroic examples of her citizens who showed remarkable unselfishness and courage in the face of danger. Let us not forget the sacrifice they paid. Let us pray for their souls, for all of the souls of the dead that day. Let us remember the courage that led the over 300 firemen to their deaths that day. God bless them. They are true heroes. They deserve to be honored and remembered. God have mercy on their souls and God have mercy on our land.

And, once, again, in my mind I go back to the crystal blue waters of Pearl Harbor and lay a flower on the waters of the tomb of those men who fell, remembering at the same time my generation's Pearl Harbor. Aloha and God be with you.

"THE HOLE IN THE SKYLINE"
National Review Writer Rod Dreher's Reflections on 9/11

In his column at NROnline Dreher notes, in part:

It is, I think, good to be reminded of the tragic sense of life — good, because it reflects the truth, and having that front and center, day and night, helps one guard against blithe optimism, our American temptation. Forewarned is forearmed. Before September 11, I used to marvel at the Twin Towers and the lower Manhattan skyline. The morning sun glinted off the towers, twin diamonds in a crowning achievement of mankind: New York City, the breathtaking palace atop that shining city on the hill that is America. At night, the lights of the towers glittered against the scrim of night, a constellation of our own making. You cannot see the stars at night from New York City, but you didn't have to if you had the Twin Towers.

The last time I saw the towers as they were was one year ago tonight, I had a drink with a friend in the neighborhood, and said goodbye to him at my doorstep, watching him walk away with the towers over his shoulder. I next saw them on fire, and within two hours, saw nothing.

They were there and now they are not: that simple brute fact I still have trouble accepting. Video of the plane crashes and the two collapses doesn't bother me; rather, what I can't take are pre-9/11 images of the World Trade Center. Not long ago, my little niece showed me video of her visit to New York three years ago. At one point, there is a shot with the Twin Towers in the distance. As soon as I saw them there, my chest tightened, tears leapt to my eyes, and I had to leave the room. That video clip was a snapshot from a time and place when we could take things for granted, from a day when the mighty towers were mere background scenery. Of course, we never could, not really; but it was easy in our peace and prosperity, to forget that.

How true, and how very well said.

THE PRIESTS OF 9/11:
More Little-Noticed and Unsung Heroism on That Awful Day

Most of us know of the incredible acts of courage on the part of the hundreds of New York City firefighters and police officers who put their lives on the line on Sept. 11, 2001 helping those caught in the burning WTC twin towers to escape, often at the cost of their own lives.

We know also of the hundreds of rescue workers who, painfully and out of compassion as well as a sense of duty, risked their own lives searching for victims and survivors among the ruins of that calamity.

We know also of the ultimate sacrifice paid by Fr. Mychal Judge, the courageous Catholic chaplain with the NYC fire department who lost his life ministering to his FDNY colleagues as they lay injured or dying from the continually falling debri.

But most of us don't know about the dozens of Catholic priests who, alongside dozens of their colleagues of other faiths, went into that Hell on Earth to help others instead of run for their lives. After the dust and debris at Ground Zero settled, dozens more mobilized to help and comfort those hundreds of firefighters, police, rescue workers, survivors, and victims' family members who needed them.

This, and not the unfortunate sex abuse scandals on which the media seem so fixated, is what being a Catholic priest or any other cleric in any other religion is really all about, or at least should be all about.

9/11 TWO YEARS LATER:
And the Nation Remembers Its Fallen Loved Ones and Fellow Citizens

But while we in the USA still live relatively free of terrorism since that awful day, terrorism continues in Israel, Iraq, and the rest of the world.

God help those for whom terrorism is a daily reality, and God bless and comfort those who have lost their friends and family members to terrorism.

ANOTHER O'HAIR-BRAINED ANTIC:
The American Atheists Want the Ground Zero Cross Removed

Shortly after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, while Ground Zero was being cleared of debris, a segment of three joined steel girders was found which uncannily resembled a perfectly symmetrical Christian cross. At the urging of the men and women who spent weeks searching for survivors and body parts, the NYC committee in charge of establishing a memorial at the site may include that 20-foot tall artifact in its memorial plans.

But not if the perennially cranky American Atheist organization has its way, as we take a look at this silly outfit and it's equally silly complaint at our Bullies 'N' Bozos web log.

FROM THE SO-WHAT-ELSE-IS-NEW? DEPARTMENT:
The Church of $cientology Is at It Again --TWICE!

According to an on-line report by NBC News, members of the Church of Scientology, including celebrities like Tom Cruise, John Travolta, and Juliette Lewis, who want to move up into the upper ranks in their religion are now required to sign a contract which relinquishes to their "church" some key rights, "including a right to psychiatric care and the right to see their families."

Apparently this new requirement came about in the wake of a successful malpractive suit brought against the "church" by the family of a mentally ill member who died from dehydration and starvation while under the "care" of her colleagues.

And the Catholic Church's critics think we're the bad guys???

For a more in-depth look at this story, see our commentary at our Bullies 'N' Bozos web log.

GETTING BOOTED BY THE POPE?
Gay Porn Priest May Get Fired by the Vatican

Sounds like a good beginning. All we need now is for the U.S. Bishops to start cleaning house, as they promised to do over a year ago.

PAUL HILL'S UPCOMING BIG SURPRISE:
When "Christians" Borrow a Page from Al-Queda

Ten years ago, a former Presbyterian minister turned psychopath with a Messiah Complex deliberately and premeditatedly gunned down an abortionist and his bodyguard in the name of life and the God of life.

Today he sits on death row awaiting his execution in Florida. less than an hour from now.

Any sane person in the same situation who also professed Christ as his Lord and Savior would have long ago repented of his sin and expressed contrition and grief for committing such a heinous act. But not Paul Hill, who remains convinced that his cold-blooded murders of Dr. John Britton and his bodyguard were not only "moral" but even earned him Brownie Points with the Almighty: Said Hill, smiling, "I expect a great reward in heaven" and "I am looking forward to glory.'' He added, "More people should act as I have acted."

Apparently, Mr. Hill had forgotten what he learned in his Presbyterian seminary regarding the rule of law and the fact that the private individual has no biblical or other religious warrant for taking the law, including God's law, into his or her own hands. He had also forgotten, it seems, the Presbyterian doctrine of interposition first codified by John Calvin, i.e., that, except in self-defense, no Christian is permitted under God's law to take up arms against another, no even a tyrant, unless so directed by the magistrates ruling over him. Neither the Bible nor Christian Tradition knows or condones anarchy, least of all murderous anarchy, no matter the "reason."

We suspect that like the Al-Queda terrorists who crashed into the Pentagon and World Trade Center two years ago expecting to be greeted in Paradise by Allah and thousands of beautfiul young virgins for their act of "martyrdom," Mr. Hill will have a big surprise awaiting him on the other side of this life. And we seriously doubt that it'll involve either Heaven or glory.

KIND OF REMINDS US OF ITALIAN POLITICS
California's Recall Governor's Race Gets Whackier and Whackier

First, it was the recall movement engineered by God-only-knows-who. The Democrats claim it has been the Republicans, which may very well be true since a wealthy Republican politico first got that ball rolling. But the polls have been showing that the recall movement has been a grassroots effort crossing all political lines.

Next, just about everyone began announcing his or her candicacy for Gray Davis' seat, from Davis' own Lieutenant Governor to a pink-and-blonde porn "actress" (euphemistically referred to as a "model" by the mainstream media) to porn kingpin Larry Flynt. Now action film star Arnold Schwarzenneger has declared his own intentions to Terminate the current Governor.

Of course, entertainers running for public office in California is nothing new. Witness Pat Brown and Ronald Reagan. But the last time a porn star ran a high-profile campaign for public office was back in 1990 when Italian porn queen Ilona Staller was elected to the Italian Parliament, where she later flashed her breasts to her colleagues and voted for things like sex for prisoners, sex education for young kids and sexual liberation for everyone. And just before the first Gulf war, she publicly offered to have sex with both George Bush, Sr. and Saddam Hussein in order to avert the coming war. (How that would've worked she never said.)

So there is a precedent established for porn stars running for public offices and actually serving in them, and California seems the most likely place to continue that tradition. After all, as in Italian politics, California politics seems run more and more by weirdos.

IS THE POPE ”PETRIFIED BY SEX”???
What Happens When Non-Liberals Join the New Know-Nothing Party

On August 3, in the New York Daily News, self-styled "middle-of-the-road" columnist Mike Barnicle joined ranks with his colleagues in the liberal news media to bash the Pope for having the temerity to issue a document on July 31 which did nothing more than defend the universal, timeless and time-honored institution of marriage against those attempting to both weaken and radically ("at the root") redefine it by rushing gay “marriage” legislation into the nation’s law-books.

A central theme of the Vatican's document, aptly titled Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons, is that what has always constituted and defined marriage was, and continues to be, determined by logic, natural law, and gender rather than the wishful thinking of a noisy special interest group.

In short: It's the biology, stupid.

On a sociological and psychological level, Considerations also points out, it has long been established that children grow and develop best under male and female parents. However, it remains to be seen that, on the whole, children --most of whom (if not all) are born heterosexual-- can do so (or worse, grow and develop adversely) under parents of the same gender; hence the Vatican's opposition as well to adoption by gay couples whether they are "married" or not. After all, it's one thing for two consenting adults to tinker with their own lives, and quite another for them to tinker with the lives of innocent children who have no say in the matter.

Moreover, as Considerations also points out, the institutions of marriage and the family, as the most fundamental building block of any civilization, predates both church and state by at least several millenia; hence, neither church nor state has the right or authority to reinvent it from the ground up by including same-sex "unions." Why, one may as well extend the definition of "marriage" to same-person unions (see our July 9 blog, Next Up In Canada: Same-Person Marriage, below).

Yet Barnicle doesn't even address any of the aforegoing concerns, nor does he address any of the other arguments against gay "marriage" raised by Considerations. It's as if the man never came across the term "philosophy," much less ever studied the subject. Instead, Barnicle opened his column with the following preposterous statement, which was quickly followed by other equally preposterous statments (emphasis via bold text and underlines added):

If you're Catholic, you really have to have faith to keep the faith these days. One day, a new archbishop is installed in Boston and instantly adds a breath of fresh air to a church that has been battered by the behavior of liars, hypocrites and obstructors of justice in Roman collars. Then, just when you think it's safe to relax, the Pope and the isolated crew around him issue their latest assault against homosexuals. That was predictable because the Vatican --hey, the hierarchy of the Catholic Church-- is petrified by sex.

Of course, the irony of the above statement is that the "liars, hypocrites, and obstructors of justice in Roman collars" to whom Barnicle refers are the very same homosexual priests who committed the crimes in question, along with the look-the-other-way bishops who protected them. After all, well over 90% of the clerical sexual abuse cases in the American Catholic Church are male-on-male, not male-on-female --a very relevant fact barely mentioned in the secular media and apparently ignored by Barnicle. In fact, had "the Pope and the isolated crew around him" staged a wholesale purge and defrocking of these clerics at least ten years ago --as they should have done-- Barnicle most likely would've waxed indignant about "their latest assault against homosexuals." Logic would suggest that if the Pope should favor gays taking marriage vows (as Barnicle apparently believes), the Pope should likewise favor gays taking priestly vows.

Nevertheless, in the remainder of his diatribe Barnicle showed nary the slightest indication of informed familiarity with the Catholic Church’s teachings in the areas of marriage (regarded as a sacrament by the Church!), sexuality, and sexual ethics. Nor did he present a shred of evidence to support his claim that Pope John Paul II & co. are "petrified by sex."

Instead of doing his homework in order to address these issues with something resembling coherence and intelligence, he apparently decided instead to create a straw-man which he then proceeded to dismantle. But such intellectual laziness seems typical of Barnicle, who according to the news media was once booted from The Boston Globe for repeatedly plagiarizing other writers' work.

On August 4, we sent the following response to Barnicle's column via e-mail to the editors of the Daily News. To date, our letter seems not to have seen the light of day there, much less any space in the Daily News' Letters section --even in a much shorter and heavily edited form. Nor have we yet to receive a reply:


Letters to the Editor
New York Daily News
August 4, 2003

Mike Barnicle's attempt on August 3 to "critique" the Vatican's rejection of gay marriage has got to be most clueless piece of balderdash on things Catholic I've come across since the last time I read a Jack Chick tract.

Barnicle claims, with zero evidence to back up his assertion, that Pope John Paul II, among other Church leaders at the Vatican, is "petrified by sex."

REALLY????

Obviously, Mr. Barnicle has never come across the vast corpus on marital relationships, sexuality, and sexual ethics --collectively known as "theology of the body"-- written by the Pope which proves the exact opposite.

Consider, for example, the following excerpts from the Pope's book Love and Responsibility, first published over 40 years ago in his native Poland:

"Sexologists state that the curve of arousal in woman is different from that in man--it rises more slowly and falls more slowly... The man must take this difference between male and female reactions into account, not for hedonistic, but for altruistic reasons. There exists a rhythm dictated by nature itself which both spouses must discover so that climax may be reached both by the man and by the woman, and as far as possible occur in both simultaneously...

"Non-observance of these teachings of sexology in the marital relationship is contrary to the good of the other partner to the marriage and the durability and cohesion of the marriage itself. It must be taken into account that it is naturally difficult for the woman to adapt herself to the man in the sexual relationship, that there is a natural unevenness of physical and psychological rhythms, so that there is a need for harmonization, which is impossible without good will, especially on the part of the man, who must carefully observe the reactions of the woman. If a woman does not obtain natural gratification from the sexual act there is a danger that her experience of it will be qualitatively inferior, will not involve her fully as a person…

"In the woman this produces an aversion to intercourse, and a disgust with sex which is just as difficult or even more difficult to control than the sexual urge. It can also cause neuroses and sometimes organic disorders (which come from the fact that the engorgement of the genital organs at the time of sexual arousal results in inflammation in the region of the so-called little pelvis, if sexual arousal is not terminated by detumescence, which in the woman is closely connected with orgasm). Psychologically, such a situation causes not just indifference but outright hostility. A woman finds it very difficult to forgive a man if she derives no satisfaction from intercourse…."

Does any of the above sound like something written by a man "petrified by sex"???

But perhaps Barnicle was merely trying to make a clever Peter-as-the-Rock pun based on Matthew 16: 18 ("And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church"): The word "petrified" and the name "Peter" --another name by which all Popes are known-- have the same root, the Greek word petros, "rock." However, we doubt that Barnicle is that original: Just ask The Boston Globe. And by all indications, he's not a New Testament scholar either.

As we've pointed out before, whether it comes from intellectually challenged secular pundits or backwoods semi-literate John Calvins, anti-Catholic nincumpoopery is still alive and well on planet Earth.

THE NEW KNOW-NOTHINGS vs. "THE PASSION":
A Catholic Writer Critiques Mel Gibson's Critics

On his web log, Catholic blogger Jim Cork makes some excellent points about those in the media and in the liberal Establishment who have been going out of their way nowadays trying to portray Mel Gibson's upcoming movie "The Passion" --which none of them have ever seen!-- as "anti-semitic," a cinematic equivalent of the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion.

According to Cork, it seems their chief reason for this shameless propaganda campaign is nothing less (or more) than that Gibson is a traditionalist Catholic. This means, in the view of the ADL's Abraham Foxman (whose long track record for knee-jerk overreaction suggests he's never to have met a Christian he hasn't disliked), that "Mr. Gibson ...is supportive of views of church policy that question or reject the many 20th-century changes, including the revolution in attitudes toward Jews beginning with [Second Vatican Council document] Nostra Aetate in 1965." Therefore, in the half-baked minds of Gibson's critics, both Gibson's motives and his attitudes toward Jews must be automatically suspect.

Cork does a fine job not only of debunking their baseless assertions, but also of turning the tables on them to show what's really beneath and behind their vacuous caterwauling --namely, an unabashed anti-Catholicism worthy of the Know-Nothing Party of the late 1880s.

Jim Cork on Mel Gibson's Clueless Critics

”JUDGES NEEDED; CATHOLICS NEED NOT APPLY”:
The U. S. Senate’s New Know-Nothings Institute a Religious Test

"No religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States." -- Article VI, Constitution of the United States

Back in the late 1800s and early 1900s –the “good ol’ days” of open hostility and discrimination against Catholic immigrants by Protestant political activists known collectively as the Know-Nothing Party-- signs bearing messages such as “Workers Needed; Irish Need Not Apply” were commonplace. Thankfully, most Americans eventually came to their senses and public sentiment went against the bigots.

However, it seems you can’t keep anti-Catholic bigotry down for very long:

Enter U. S. Senators Charles Schumer and Dianne Feinstein, as well as Ted Kennedy, Richard Durbin, Tom Daschle, and Patrick Leahy (nominal cafeteria Catholics who have repeatedly sided with the abortion lobby) –all Democrats and most of them on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Enter also, before that Committee, Alabama Attorney General William Pryor, a devout Catholic who opposes abortion and is a nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Consider also the fact that, by all media accounts, during his tenure as Alabama’s Attorney General Pryor strictly abided by all Supreme Court precedents and decisions vis the abortion issue despite his pro-life commitment and his dedication to Catholic teaching in general.

But this was not good enough for the New Know-Nothing Party composed of Schumer, Feinstein, Kennedy, and Leahy. For them, the fact that Pryor is a committed orthodox Catholic and past president of one of his state’s pro-life organizations alone disqualified him for a seat in the U. S. Court of Appeals.

For example, Schumer announced that Pryor “feels so deeply, so passionately about Roe v. Wade that we can't believe he'll be objective.”

And Feinstein, in a response to Pryor, noted that "Virtually in every area you have extraordinarily strong views which continue to come out in a number of different ways.” [Pryor had referred to the Roe vs. Wade decision as "the worst abomination in the history of constitutional law".] “Your comments about Roe make one believe, could he really, suddenly, move away from those comments and be a judge?"

Lest some dismiss this as a fluke or just a case of Democrats being merely anti-Republican rather than anti-Catholic, all recent judiciary nominees who also “just happen” to be devout, practicing Catholics received the same treatment by the Committee’s Democratic members and other liberal Democrats in the Senate. Among these rejected Catholic candidates were Leon Holmes (in the eastern district of Arkansas), Carolyn Kuhl (in the Ninth Circuit), Bob Conrad (eastern district of North Carolina) and three of the four other stalled nominees from Michigan (Sixth Circuit).

The Holmes case is especially repugnant: During his hearing before the Committee, Feinstein ripped out of context statements Holmes had written in religious (not legal) articles he wrote for Catholic theological (not law) publications and spun these as "evidences" of his alleged unfitness for office as a judge.

As William Donohoe, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, put it so succinctly regarding the Pryor nomination, "[I]t is precisely Pryor's religious convictions that are being scrutinized. Given the cast of mind of some of his critics, it makes it virtually impossible for practicing Catholics to ascend to the federal bench." Similar objections to the Democratic Senators’ approach have also been voiced by leading Protestants such as Chuck Colson.

But Catholics and other Christians are not the only ones horrified by the Senate Democrats’ conduct vis Pryor and other Catholic nominees. The Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America wrote this regarding Pryor: "We are profoundly troubled by the manner in which this opposition has been framed. . . . We are deeply troubled by those who have implied that a person of faith cannot serve in a high-level government post that may raise issues at odds with his or her personal beliefs."

So the real test for "Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States" in the minds the New Know-Nothings is not Mr. Pryor’s record but rather Pryor’s, and therefore any Catholic’s, ”deeply held beliefs;” specifically, his deeply held Catholic beliefs. It is, at the bottom line, a religious test, a test specifically prohibited by Article IV of the U. S. Constitution, the same document the New Know-Nothings repeatedly claim to revere.

A MUSLIM WOODY ALLEN?
The Comedic Aspirations of a Canadian Filmmaker

Contrary to the impression most of we non-Muslim Westerners have about Muslims, at least some of them have a sense of humor.

See, for example, this story in The Washington Post about the satirical films created by Canadian filmmaker Zarqa Nawaz, a Muslim woman.

Nawaz apparently follows her religion faithfully yet with her tongue firmly planted in cheek when it comes to Muslim manners, attitudes and culture as well as Western perceptions of and attitudes toward Muslims.

NOW THAT'S ALCOHOL ABUSE!
Jim Beam Loses 1,000,000 Gallons of Good Hootch...

...in a fire this week, according to this article.

THIS IS A SCREAM:
Check Out Oliphant's Vatican vs. Gay "Marriage" Cartoon

Syndicated editorial cartoonist Pat Oliphant may not be very kind to the Catholic Church in this one, but his lampooning of the gays and gay "marriage" is priceless. Note the purse carried by one of the guys, and the high heels on the other, and the "His" and "His" shirts. Too much!

Note also the veiled reference to current goings-on within the Episcopal Church by the tiny bird character Oliphant uses in all his cartoons.

Oliphant's Gay "Marriage" Cartoon

No doubt Oliphant's very politically incorrect portrayal of his two gay characters will earn his syndicate far more angry letters than will his poke at the Vatican.

A "GLOBAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST GAYS"???
The Chicago Sin-Times Lies About the Vatican's "Considerations" Document

In the wake of Pope John Paul II's July 31 document opposing the current growing trend towards legalizing gay unions and redefining marriage by lifting civil bans against gay "marriage," the liberal pro-homosexual Chicago Sun-Times lost no time spinning this modest and very reasonable response by the Vatican to a legitimate moral issue into some kind of imaginary pogrom against gays themselves.

In response, Chicago's Cardinal George sent an open letter of apology to the Pope on behalf of the people of Chicago and lambasted the Sun-Times from his pulpit. The Catholic News Service reports on this as follows:

Headline saying pope attacks gays draws ire of Chicago cardinal

By Catholic News Service

CHICAGO (CNS) -- Cardinal Francis E. George of Chicago used an Aug. 3 homily to defend Pope John Paul II against a newspaper headline that charged the pope with launching a campaign against homosexuals.

Cardinal George said an Aug. 1 headline in the daily Chicago Sun-Times that read "Pope launches global campaign against gays" was a "false accusation" he felt compelled to defend.

The headline on the front-page article appeared a day after the Vatican released a 12-page document that called on lawmakers to offer "clear and emphatic opposition" to same-sex marriages, which it said were contrary to human nature and ultimately harmful to society.

In releasing the document, the pope was re-affirming the "nature of marriage," the cardinal said.

"Marriage is a lifelong union of a man and a woman who enter into a total sharing of themselves for the sake of family," he said.

The cardinal said the nature of marriage was decided by biology, predates the church and that neither government nor the church had the authority to change it.

"What the Holy Father concluded from the fact that there is neither biological nor moral equivalence between heterosexual marriage and homosexual unions is that there should be no legal equivalence either in a well-ordered and wholesome society," the cardinal said.

Cardinal George said the drive to legalize same-sex unions was because of "morality based upon desires" supplanting a "morality based upon the truth of things," and that those who oppose the unions are denounced as "homophobic."

"Because of a concerted effort in movies and TV shows in recent years to shape public imagination and opinion into accepting same-sex relations as normal and morally unexceptional, obvious truths now are considered evidence of homophobia," he said.

The cardinal said he wrote a letter to Pope John Paul apologizing for the headline, and that he hesitated before signing his title to the letter.

"I'm ashamed that this false accusation against the pope was made in our city. At the very least it is unfair, and we pride ourselves on fairness," he said.

Cardinal George said many who attacked the pope were anti-Catholic, but stopped short levying that charge against the Chicago Sun-Times.

"What I must say today is that a line has been crossed, and Chicago Catholics cannot ignore what has happened," he said.

The Sun-Times defended its headline, saying that when read in its entirety it "accurately reflects the church's view on same-sex marriage and the role the church requires Catholic politicians to play in this issue."

The paper said that the full headline read, "Pope Launches Global Campaign Vs. Gays," followed by the subhead, "Vatican: Catholic pols have 'moral duty' to oppose homesexual (sic) rights."

END

In our view, it's time for all rational and fairminded people to start flooding the offices of the Chicago Sun-Times with letters of protest.

A LEGEND TAKES HIS FINAL BOW:
Bob Hope Leaves Us at Age 100

World renown comedian Bob Hope passed away over the weekend, less than two months after the USA and the rest of the world celebrated his 100th birthday.

Unlike way too many modern-day comedians, Mr. Hope's comedy was both very clean and very, very funny. He kept whole families, from the kids to their grandparents, in stitches for over 60 years, beginning in 1938 with his first movie, "The Big Broadcast of 1938" and his radio shows for NBC in the early 1940s.

In addition to the scores of movies and hundreds of radio and t.v. shows which made him a household name, Mr. Hope has been especially well known for donating his talent, time and energy to entertaining US troops overseas through the USO from World War II to the 1991 Persian Gulf War. As honory President of USO, Mr. Hope both inspired and personally pursuaded countless other entertainers to "go forth and do likewise" ever since he began doing his own USO tours in 1941.

In 1997, the U. S. Congress bestowed an honor on Mr. Hope which has never been given to anyone before or since: He was named as an honorary U.S. veteran because of his decades of support to the American military men and women living far away from home. Mr. Hope was deeply touched: "I've been given many awards in my lifetime," he replied, "but to be numbered among the men and women I admire the most is the greatest honor I have ever received."

Bob Hope was a gem, and he will be sorely missed.

SOME GREAT CHRISTIAN ONE-LINERS
Yes, It's Another Slow News Day

After all, it's the middle of July for Heaven's sake. So here are some gems we found posted on a Catholic message board:

Christian One Liners

Some people are kind, polite, and sweet-spirited-until you try to sit in their pews.

Many folks want to serve God, but only as advisers.

It is easier to preach ten sermons than it is to live one.

The good Lord didn't create anything without a purpose, but mosquitoes come close.

When you get to your wit's end, you'll find God lives there.

People are funny, they want the front of the bus, the middle of the road, and the back of the church.

Opportunity may knock once, but temptation bangs on your front door forever.

Quit griping about your church; if it was perfect, you couldn't belong..

The phrase that is guaranteed to wake up an audience: "And in conclusion."

God Himself does not propose to judge a man until he is dead. So why should you?

To make a long story short, don't tell it.

If your left hand doesn't know what your right hand is doing, you should consider running for a job in Washington, DC.

Some minds are like concrete, thoroughly mixed up and permanently set.

Peace starts with a smile.

I don't know why some people change churches; what difference does it make which one you stay home from?

A lot of church members who are singing "Standing on the Promises" are just sitting on the premises.

We were called to be witnesses, not lawyers or judges.

Outside of traffic, there is nothing that holds this country back as much as committees.

Be ye fishers of men. You catch them - He'll clean them.

Coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous.

Don't put a question mark where God put a period.

Don't wait for 6 strong men to take you to church.

Forbidden fruits create many jams.

God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called.

God grades on the cross, not the curve.

God loves everyone, but probably prefers "fruits of the spirit" over "religious nuts!"

God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage.

He who angers you, controls you!

If God is your Copilot - swap seats!

Prayer: Don't give God instructions -- just report for duty!

The task ahead of us is never as great as the Power behind us.

The Will of God will never take you to where the Grace of God will not protect you.

We don't change the message, the message changes us.

You can tell how big a person is by what it takes to discourage him.

The best mathematical equation I have ever seen: 1 cross + 3 nails = 4 given.