Noted Theologian Joe Biden Picks Another Noted Theologian as a Running Mate

 

 

                                                            Menaces to Society!

Michael Sean Winters, a writer for the National Catholic Reporter and the author of “Left At the Altar: How Democrats Lost The Catholics And How Catholics Can Save The Democrats,” also expressed his reservations about Harris. 

“After the racial tensions the nation experienced this summer, putting a Black woman on the ticket is to be commended,” Winters said, but called the selection of Harris a “setback for progressives.”

Winters was critical of Harris’ 2018 questioning of a judicial nominee over his membership of the Knights of Columbus, calling her treatment of Brian C. Buescher “embarrassing in both its ignorance and its bigotry.” 

“Whatever difficulties I have with the leadership at the K of C, they do not excuse her dismissiveness towards a religion held by millions of fellow citizens, including her new running mate,” Winters said Wednesday, after the announcement of Harris' selection was made. 

At the time CNA broke the story of Buescher's ordeal, America Magazine published an editorial saying Harris’ questions to the prospective judge had shown "a surprising ignorance of the Knights’ many religious, charitable and civic activities beyond their direct political advocacy, not to mention a complete disregard for their history in opposing virulent anti-Catholicism in the nation’s past."

National Review writer Alexandra DeSanctis made a similar observation, saying Harris’s time on the Senate judiciary committee had shown “reprehensible anti-Catholic bigotry, and there’s no reason to believe her views have changed.”

Several commentators from across the political divide also noted Harris’ noted support for unlimited access to abortion.

Knights with Bikes

Vancouver, Canada, Mar 6, 2020 / 08:19 pm (CNA).- A Vancouver-based bicycling charity broke a long-standing partnership with a local Knights of Columbus group this week and rejected their donations of bikes over the Knight’s “anti-LGBTQ+” beliefs, The B.C. Catholic reported.

“I’m sad that religious intolerance seems to be getting in the way of getting bikes to poor people,” Graham Darling, the spokesman for the local Knights council, told The B.C. Catholic. 

Obvious Lesbian Hater with Bicycle

The PEDAL Society is a non-profit that recycles and refurbishes used bicycles, and also provides education in bike mechanics to the community. Darling said the society called to let him know that the organization would no longer accept bikes donated by the Knights because the group is “anti-LGBTQ+”.

The Knights had been donating bicycles in partnership with the organization since 2006, and Darling said that “no issues have ever arisen” in that time.

I Don't Think You Have the Right Group of Knights

Washington D.C., Jul 24, 2019 / 04:15 pm (CNA).- The Senate on Wednesday voted to confirm Brian Buescher, a judicial nominee grilled by two senators last year over his membership in the Knights of Columbus. Buescher will now become a U.S. District Judge in Nebraska.

“I can’t believe I need to repeat it here in the U.S. Capitol, but there is nothing about living out one’s faith that is disqualifying for public service. To the contrary, what the Constitution does forbid is imposing any kind of religious test for public office,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kent.) stated on the Senate Floor on Wednesday before the vote.

The Senate on Wednesday voted 51-40 to confirm Buescher, with nine senators not voting. The vote fell along party lines, with Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) voting No.

Several presidential candidates, Sens. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) did not vote.

During his confirmation hearings, Buescher faced pointed questions over his membership in the Knights of Columbus, and over the organization’s “extreme” opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage, by U.S. Senators Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Kamala Harris.

Brian Buescher (left) at a Knights of Columbus Meeting

A series of written questions sent by Sen. Hirono to Buescher in December stated that the Knights taken “extreme” positions including supporting California’s Proposition 8 in 2008, a successful ballot initiative to overturn same-sex marriage.

Sen. Hirono asked Buescher if he would end his membership in the Knights “to avoid any appearance of bias,” and if he would “recuse” himself “from all cases in which the Knights of Columbus has taken a position”.

Sen. Harris said the Knights opposed a woman’s “right to choose” and asked Buescher if he knew about that stance when he joined, calling the Knights “an all-male society comprised primarily of Catholic men.” She also asked the nominee if he agreed with Supreme Knight Carl Anderson’s previous statements that abortion is “the killing of the innocent on a massive scale” which has “resulted in more than 40 million deaths”.

Cocaine Mitch gets the last laugh:

 In the Senate on Wednesday, Sen. McConnell noted, tongue-in-cheek, that the “negative bombshell” on the nominee was that he “is a practicing Catholic.”
“My goodness. Imagine that, in the United States of America: a person of faith, serving in government,” McConnell said.

Heroic Kid, Psycho Killers

Denver, Colo., May 9, 2019 / 05:00 pm (CNA).- When Sara Haynes heard about the shooting at STEM High School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado on Tuesday, she prayed. A Catholic school teacher in Denver until just recently, she knew some of her former students were now high schoolers at STEM.
When Haynes learned that Kendrick Castillo, a former student of hers, was the lone casualty in the May 7 shooting, she cried immediately.
Then she reached out to the other students who had been in the same 7th and 8th grade math and religion classes at Notre Dame Catholic School as Castillo. Details of Kendrick’s death were not yet public, but her students guessed Castillo had died trying to protect others, Haynes said.
“I went to my students and we were all just sharing together. And I said: ‘Do you guys think that he blocked the shooter?’ And they said: ‘Yeah.’ I mean, it just wasn't a shock to us” that he would give his life for others, Haynes said.
On Wednesday, Kendick’s father, John Castillo, confirmed to the Denver Post what he had learned from witnesses and the coroner: that Kendrick died while charging the shooter to save his friends.

Not only was Kendrick kind in school, but he was also a very helpful and active person at church, Gerk recalled. He would often tag along with his dad to Knights of Columbus events, Gerk said. He would usher at Mass with his dad on Saturday nights, and help serve breakfast with the Knights of Columbus during Catholic Schools week.
“Kendrick would be in the kitchen, and he had a blue apron that said ‘Knights of Columbus.’ Kendrick was in there with his dad, helping,” she said.
Cece Bedard knew Kendrick because her dad, too, was in the Knights of Columbus. In a message to CNA, Bedard said that Kendrick “loved his faith and he really loved to serve others.”



 WHO WOULD KILL A KID LIKE THAT? Sorry, we can't tell you. It ruins the narrative.

The suspected shooter, Devon Erickson, "would whisper, like get really close and kinda put his arm around you, and whisper in your ear, ‘don’t come to school tomorrow,'" said Kevin Cole, a former student of STEM School Highlands Ranch, during an interview on "Today."

Erickson, 18, and a juvenile, who police identify as a girl but who prefers male pronouns, are accused of entering the K-12 school with handguns Tuesday. NBC News is not identifying the juvenile suspect.

The second suspect in the Colorado school shooting, Maya McKinney, was listed in court records as a 16-year-old female, but identifies as a male and prefers to be called Alec.
McKinney was shackled at the wrists and ankles Wednesday when he appeared in court and responded to the judge’s questions in a clear but quiet voice, saying, “Yes, your honor,” and, “No, your honor.” His mother sat at his side.
The teen’s lawyers asked that the pronoun “he” be used for their client.

 

News From a Formerly Catholic Universiy

South Bend, Ind., Jan 21, 2019 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- A series of murals depicting Christopher Columbus' life and exploration displayed at the University of Notre Dame will be covered up, the university's president announced Sunday.
“Painted in 1882-84 … they reflect the attitudes of the time and were intended as a didactic presentation, responding to cultural challenges for the school’s largely immigrant, Catholic population,” Fr. John Jenkins, C.S.C., wrote in his Jan. 20 letter announcing the decision.
“In recent years, however, many have come to see the murals as at best blind to the consequences of Columbus’s voyage for the indigenous peoples who inhabited this 'new' world and at worst demeaning toward them.”

Carol Delaney, an emerita professor of anthropology at Stanford University and author of “Columbus and the Quest for Jerusalem,” told CNA in 2017 that a popular current narrative around Columbus is tarred by bad history.
“They’re blaming Columbus for the things he didn’t do. It was mostly the people who came after, the settlers,” Delaney said. “He’s been terribly maligned.”

She said Columbus initially had a favorable impression of many of the Native Americans he met and instructed the men under his command not to abuse them but to trade with them; he also punished some of his own men who committed crimes against the natives.
Delaney acknowledged that some Native Americans were sent to Spain as slaves or conscripted into hard labor at the time Columbus had responsibility for the region, but she attributed this mistreatment to his substitutes acting in his absence.
And the Knights of Columbus have said that their namesake “has frequently been falsely blamed for the actions of those who came after him and is the victim of horrific slanders concerning his conduct.”

And since there are no Catholic issues to worry about....

 The head of the Native American Student Association of Notre Dame welcomed Jenkins' decision, and wrote to the South Bend Tribune expressing hope that the administration “will continue to prioritize Native issues on our campus in the coming weeks and months as there is still work to be done.”

Looks Like I'll Never Make District Court

Washington D.C., Dec 21, 2018 / 02:00 pm (CAN).- A judicial nominee faced questions from Senators this month about whether membership in the Knights of Columbus might impede his ability to judge federal cases fairly. The Knights of Columbus say that no candidate for public office should have to defend his membership in a Catholic service organization.
Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Kamala Harris (D-CA) raised concerns about membership in the Knights of Columbus while the Senate Judiciary Committee reviewed the candidacy of Brian C. Buescher, an Omaha-based lawyer nominated by President Trump to sit on the United States District Court for the District of Nebraska.
Senators also asked whether belonging to the Catholic charitable organization could prevent judges from hearing cases “fairly and impartially.”

I'm in the last row of guys in tuxedos; center right. 4th degree ceremony...

Everyday Heroes

New Haven, Conn., Apr 5, 2018 / 06:11 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Ordinary Catholic men in the Knights of Columbus can make a big impact in their communities and in people’s lives, and they are the focus of “Everyday Heroes,” a new online video series put out by the Catholic fraternal organization.
“This film series offers a glimpse into the many ‘ordinary’ ways in which the Knights serve those around them,” Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Carl Anderson said April 3.
“‘Everyday Heroes’ are your brothers, friends and co-workers who quietly serve, often over many years,” Anderson added.
The Catholic fraternal service organization, founded in Connecticut in 1882 by the priest Ven. Michael J. McGivney, has nearly two million members in 15,000 councils around the world.

The series will talk about members from various ages and backgrounds. It will run new videos each week from April 3 to May 29 at the website kofceverydayheroes.org.

The first man profiled in the series is Joe Reali, a 25-year-old from Long Island, New York.

 https://kofceverydayheroes.org/episode1/

Knights of Columbus Golf Scramble

Marist Poll, the People, and the Democrats

A new survey by the Knights of Columbus-Marist Poll shows that a strong majority of Americans support conscience protection for medical professionals.
As Congress considers the Conscience Protection Act, by nearly 20 points (56 percent to 37 percent), Americans say that medical professionals and organizations should be able to opt out of abortion procedures and coverage. Among registered voters, the results are 57 percent to 36 percent.

“Consistent with our First Amendment guarantees, the American people believe that no person or organization should be compelled to help perform or cover abortion,” said Knights of Columbus CEO Carl Anderson. “It is important that our elected officials continue to protect these important rights, and no American ever be forced to be involved in abortion against their conscience or religious beliefs.”
The survey of 1,009 adults was conducted July 5-12, 2016, by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion and sponsored by the Knights of Columbus. Adults 18 years of age and older residing in the continental United States were interviewed on either landline or mobile phones in English using live interviewers. Results for adults are statistically significant within ±3.1 percentage points. The error margin increases for cross-tabulations.

Meanwhile....the Democrats put the following plan in their platform:


“We will continue to oppose — and seek to overturn — federal and state laws and policies that impede a woman’s access to abortion, including by repealing the Hyde Amendment,” the platform draft says.
Since the 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade creating a constitutional right to abortion, the Hyde Amendment has enjoyed broad bipartisan support, as it is attached to annual federal spending bills."

Islamic Outreach, Part XXXIV

From an earlier post on this blog:

Pope Francis spoke to the diplomatic corps and amongst other things, said, "Hence it is important to intensify dialogue among the various religions, and I am thinking particularly of dialogue with Islam."

Meanwhile...


"A fatwa (religious edict) against “all you can eat” buffets by a Saudi cleric has stirred debate among users of social networking site Twitter.
The cleric, Saleh al-Fawzan, recently issued a fatwa through a kingdom-based Quranic TV station prohibiting open buffets, saying that the value and quantity of what is sold should be pre-determined before it is purchased.
“Whoever enters the buffet and eats for 10 or 50 riyals without deciding the quantity they will eat is violating Sharia (Islamic) law,” said Fawzan on al-Atheer channel."

IN solidarity with our Islamic brothers, the Knights of Columbus are cancelling all their Lenten Fish Frys world-wide.

The Trouble With Jesuits

The Knights of Columbus have been been banished (not recognized) from campus, and the Vice President of Student Life explains:

“The Knights of Columbus, by their very nature, is a men’s organization in which only Catholics may participate via membership,” says a letter obtained by The Cardinal Newman Society written by Sue Weitz, Vice President for Student Life. “These criteria are inconsistent with the policy and practice of student organization recognition at Gonzaga University, as well as the University’s commitment to non-discrimination based on certain characteristics, one of which is religion.”

Yes, you read that right. A JESUIT university, named after a Catholic saint ( Aloysius Gonzaga) has banned the Knights because they exclude non-catholics and women. 

Update...the decision is under review. Read more here.

Fathers For Good

Fathers For Good is a Knights of Columbus initiative, apparently designed to make me feel like a failure.