buckgeorge.com

If so, buy the "Big Bright Green Pleasure Machine:"

Apparently, in 1995 the Vatican composed a list of 45 "great films." Who knew they were into movies? Two of my favorites made the list: It's a Wonderful LIfe and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Fans of Mickey Mouse will be pleased to note that Fantasia also made the list.

To do science, one must assume that the universe makes some kind of sense, that it behaves according to some kind of logic, that there is an intrinsic order in the universe. If there was no intrinsic order in the universe to discover, there would be no point in doing science. One big question that pops up, then, is the source of this intrinsic order.

St. Athanasius, in his Discourse Against the Pagans, gives the Christian's answer to the source of the order in the universe and insists that this intrinsic order lends support to Christian belief. Writing in the 4th century he says:

For if the movement of the universe were irrational, and the world rolled on in random fashion, one would be justified in disbelieving what we say. But if the world is founded on reason, wisdom and science, and is filled with orderly beauty, then it must owe its origin and order to none other than the Word of God.

. . .

By his eternal Word the Father created all things and implanted a nature in his creatures. He did not want to see them tossed about at the mercy of their own natures, and so be reduced to nothingness. But in his goodness he governs and sustains the whole of nature by his Word (who is himself also God), so that under the guidance, providence and ordering of that Word, the whole of nature might remain stable and coherent in his light.

There are, of course, alternatives to the notion that the universe was endowed with order by its creator. One could always take the multiverse hypothesis: that there are an infinite number of universes popping into and out of existence all the time and we just happen to be in one that appears to make sense. I mean, what with an infinite number of universes, one that makes sense would have to pop up eventually. Infinite universes, yes, that's it! No, we can't really prove their existence, but believing in them without any proof is far more reasonable than the God hypothesis.

---

Reference: Excerpt from St. Athanasius, Discourse Against the Pagans, in The Liturgy of the Hours Vol. III, Office of Readings for Thursday of the first week of Ordinary Time, pp. 67–68; New York: Catholic Book Publishing Corp., 1975.

And so, to the doctors of death, we proclaim, "Screw off!"

Something to think about as our Commander-in-chief who, having just accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, is escalating the war effort in Afghanistan:

This lust of sovereignty disturbs and consumes the human race with frightful ills. By this lust Rome was overcome when she triumphed over Alba, and praising her own crime, called it glory. For, as our Scriptures say, "the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth" [Psalm 10:3]. Away, then, with these deceitful masks, these deluding whitewashes, that things may be truthfully seen and scrutinized. Let no man tell me that this and the other was a "great" man, because he fought and conquered so and so. Gladiators fight and conquer, and this barbarism has its meed of praise; but I think it were better to take the consequences of any sloth, than to seek the glory won by such arms.

(City of God, book 3, n. 14)

Buddhist extremists brutally attack Catholic church in Sri Lanka

More than 1,000 Buddhist extremists armed with clubs, swords and stones ferociously attacked a Catholic church in the town of Crooswatta, Sri Lanka on December 6, destroying the altar, statues and pews.

L'Osservatore Romano reported that Father Jude Denzil Lakshman, pastor of Our Lady of the Mystical Rose, said "I still can hear their shouts in my ears, 'Cut him to pieces, kill him'."

New York Woman Charged With Attempting to Kill Unborn Baby in Forced Abortion

A New York City woman has been charged in a case that saw her attempt to force her husband's pregnant mistress to have an abortion using one part of the dangerous abortion drug mifepristone. When the abortion failed and the baby was born prematurely, she attempted to kill the infant.

From CNSNews.com:

Fight Climate Change With Free Condoms, U.N. Population Fund Says

The battle against global warming could be helped if the world slowed population growth by making free condoms and family planning advice more widely available, the U.N. Population Fund said Wednesday.

The agency did not recommend countries set limits on how many children people should have, but said: "Women with access to reproductive health services ... have lower fertility rates that contribute to slower growth in greenhouse gas emissions."

"As the growth of population, economies and consumption outpaces the Earth's capacity to adjust, climate change could become much more extreme and conceivably catastrophic," the report said.

The world's population will likely rise from the current 6.7 billion to 9.2 billion in 2050, with most of the growth in less developed regions, according to a 2006 report by the United Nations.

The U.N. Population Fund acknowledged it had no proof of the effect that population control would have on climate change. "The linkages between population and climate change are in most cases complex and indirect," the report said [my emphasis].

Interestingly enough, it turns out that imposing measures to limit births among specific groups of people fits the UN definition of genocide.

From the talk "Human Rights in the New Millennium".

Such contrasts lead to situations that are highly revealing about the prospects for human rights. Right now, the two American political parties are competing to see which can uphold more fervently its dedication to the sadistic doctrine that undocumented immigrants must be denied health care. Their stand is consistent with the legal principle, established by the Supreme Court, that these creatures are not "persons" under the law, hence are not entitled to the rights granted to persons. And at the very same moment, the Court is considering the question of whether corporations should be permitted to purchase elections openly instead of doing so only in more indirect ways -- a complex constitutional matter, because the courts have determined that unlike undocumented immigrants, corporations are real persons under the law, and in fact have rights far beyond those of persons of flesh and blood, including rights granted by the mislabelled "free trade agreements." These revealing coincidences elicit no comment. The law is indeed a solemn and majestic affair.

The propaganda: You know, abortion is all about reproductive freedom and the life and health of the mother and you can't tell a woman what to do with her body and though I'm personally opposed to abortion I support a woman's right to choose and... (ad nauseam).

The truth:

Woman's Lawsuit: She Yelled Stop, Practitioner Continued With Forced Abortion

Hodari, who has killed at least two women in botched abortions, put a for sale sign on his Flint, Michigan center last week and also on his facilities in Livonia and Southgate.

Local pro-life advocate Judy Climer of Flint Right to Life told LifeNews.com that there is a "a fresh lawsuit against him, the clinic and former employee(s)," filed by Caitlin Bruce.

Climer noted Bruce says Hodari forced her to have an abortion after she declined.

. . .

Bruce alleges that she went to Hodari's clinic seeking an abortion, but, before the abortion began, she changed her mind, decided against it and told Hodari. However, Hodari and his assistant forcibly restrained Bruce and held her down, according to her suit.

Bruce screamed "Stop, stop, I don't want this," but her mouth was covered to muffle her pleas while Hodari forced her to have the abortion.

The lawsuit notes six counts against Hodari including lack of informed consent/medical malpractice, battery, fraud, misrepresentation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and ethnic/gender intimidation.

. . .

Newman also notes that this is not the first time Hodari has been accused of forcing a woman to have an abortion.