Voter's Guide for Nominal Catholics

This is just priceless. Thanks, Agnus Daily!



Downloadable PDF version found here.

This is just nuts

It looks like this sterling example of American citizenship got more than his fair share of the change we can believe in.

"Sometimes, they come up and bribe me with a cigarette, or they'll give me a dollar to sign up," said Freddie Johnson, 19, who filled out 72 separate voter-registration cards over an 18-month period at the behest of the left-leaning Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. (ACORN)

ACORN is under investigation in Ohio and at least eight other states - including Missouri, where the FBI said it's planning to look into potential voter fraud - for over-the-top efforts to get as many names as possible on the voter rolls regardless of whether a person is registered or eligible.

Aren't you heartened to see that Obama hasn't left his Chicago-political-machine roots behind? What would an Illinois candidacy mean without significant voter fraud? (Especially by the pros at ACORN.)*

Of course, I think citizens should bring their land of primary residence into the voting booth. That's why this coming Sunday's lectionary text from the Gospel is so important to read right now.

What is your true homeland? How are you going to carry that into the American political process?

*Speaking of voter fraud - check out this zombie-related post on dead voters.

The Revvin' Reverend

Did you hear about the Harley-ridin' holy-rollers in southern California? They became bikers to reach the Hell's Angels (and others). Only, when the real Hell's Angels showed up, the Christians forgot to turn the other cheek and a Bible-packin' biker-brawl broke out! Two Hell's Angels ended up getting stabbed.

(BTW, you have to love a church where the Hell's Angels pick a fight...and lose!)

The question I have is this:

Where does the church draw the line in accommodating cultural norms (contextualizing Christianity) in order to reach out to the lost?

We've done this poorly in the past, often by being too strict (think missionary position, or our deracination efforts on the American Indian). We've also been too accomodating to the culture - especially as early Christians reached into pagan Europe.

Apparently, we're not done yet.


Thoughts?

Paedobaptism and Pentecostal Presumptions

As I was going over the Order for Holy Baptism with an adult who has come to faith, I was struck at how presumptuous the service is for children. The covenant vows that are taken (resisting evil, seeking obedience to God's law, etc.) are big enough as it is. But afterward, we apply water in the name of the Triune Godhead.

THEN, we pray this prayer:

Heavenly Father, we thank you that by water and the Holy Spirit you have bestowed upon these your servants the forgiveness of sin, and have raised them to the new life of grace. Sustain them, O Lord, in your Holy Spirit. Give them an inquiring and discerning heart, the courage to will and to persevere, a spirit to know and to love you, and the gift of joy and wonder in all your works. Amen.

Now some people get their dander up about baptismal regeneration (which, as a good Reformed Evangelical Catholic, i.e., an Anglican, I WHOLLY REJECT). But think about what we're doing. We're claiming God's real promises before they break into reality.

I was struck by how this shares at least some similarity with the pentecostal faith of my childhood: Name It and Claim It!

Those of us who hold to covenant baptism believe that God will be faithful to himself and his promises, and so we speak and act as though those promises were as realized as they are real.

What think you? Have you claimed the Name of him who claimed you?

Questions about McCain's Associates

Everybody is asking if Obama is ready to lead based on his nefarious associates. But are they asking the same of Obama. In the interest of fairness, let's look at the evidence.



Scary, huh?

Want a real outsider?

St. Francis Day Service

Have I mentioned that I love being a priest?