Maggie's Farm

Fr. Neuhaus and Krauthammer Eulogize the Pope

The wisest two pieces I've seen:

Krauthammer:

Under the benign and deeply humane vision of this pope, the power of faith led to the liberation of half a continent. Under the barbaric and nihilistic vision of Islam's jihadists, the power of faith has produced terror and chaos. That contrast alone, which has dawned upon us unmistakably ever since Sept. 11, should be reason enough to be grateful for John Paul II. But we mourn him for more than that. We mourn him for restoring strength to the Western idea of the free human spirit at a moment of deepest doubt and despair. And for seeing us through to today's great moment of possibility for both faith and freedom. Click here: The Power of Faith (washingtonpost.com)

Polls and the Papacy

You now hear Bill Clinton, and the NYT, complain about the Pope because he was not what? A modern progressive politician? Huh? And when I begin to see polls coming out about what the next Pope should do, I realize what a huge gap exists between the religiously-interested and secularists.

Hello! It is called "religion." It's about a person's relationship with God. And the Pope's job is to help find the way, and light the way. It's not about what people like and it has nothing to do with popularity or being in tune with the latest fad. It's not about "keeping up with the times." It's about "timeless". It doesn't take a spiritual leader to say what people like. Everyone already knows what people "like". What can be tough is to find is the "permalink" to the divine. When folks find that, they really like it.

Euthanasia

Pat Caddell said on TV Saturday that we should not believe the ABC poll about the Schivao case, and he was quite angry about the probably deliberate distortions in the polling method. The euthanasia issue is morally and spiritually complex and treacherous in many ways, of course. (Courts and politics are trivial aspects of the discussion - it is about religion, or at least about spiritual beliefs.) And we are dealing with euthanasia at this point, not Terri.

Andrew Sullivan believes, for example, that it's all about insane Christians and that courts are the bottom line, if they are not God. He's very smart, but who believes that courts are that smart? Terri is the dying martyr .Then there's Frank Rich, the arch-materialist ranter - odd for an ex-theater critic - for whom all of this is a religous scam:The God Racket, From DeMille to DeLay

Peggy Noonan does a great job of explaining the pro-life view on euthanasia: Peggy Noonan and Steyn does too, drawing on a Canadian case: "Like other statist politicians, Mr. Trudeau . . . either didn't see, or resented, that right and wrong are only reflected by the laws, not determined by them. That's how I feel about the Terri Schiavo case. I'm neither a Floridian nor a lawyer, and, for all I know, it may be legal under Florida law for the state to order her to be starved to death. But it is still wrong." No compelling reason to kill Terri Schiavo

There is a debate here which is too deep, and too real, to be left to politicians and courts. I hesitate to compare it to the national debate on slavery, but it could be one of those defining debates that symbolically reflect our national view of existence. And, don't forget, the mainly religious opposition to slavery was based on the idea that Africans have souls. Last week, there was a well-reported case in the Netherlands or Denmark about a later-term abortion of a baby because he had a cleft lip, and the parents wanted a "perfect" kid. Let's have a national debate on euthanasia, which that case clearly was, and its limits, if any. Because this is about values and emotion and belief, not law. And I ask you - Why does this pan out to a left and right issue? Put your replies in "comments," OK?

Addendum: got a few emails noting that the links do not work on this bit - will try to fix.

Matthew 27:45

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice "Eli, Eli, la'ma sabach-tha'ni?" that is, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" And some of the bystanders hearing it said "That man is calling Elijah." And one of them at once ran and brought a sponge, filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave it to him to drink. But the others said "Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to save him." And Jesus cried again with a loud voice and gave up his spirit.

Religion is always a threat to a State unless the State controls the religion. Egypt figured it out by making the King God. Rome tried, but I gather no-one took it too seriously. Falun Gong is of course outlawed in China, as a competitor to allegiance to the State. Falun Gong seems to be a religion-like movement that is concerned with Righteous Thoughts and physical devotions. Herein the testimony of a twice-imprisoned and brainwashed practioner from the Falun Gong website: Click here: Falun Dafa Clearwisdom.net