I spent a little less than a day and a half in Atlantic City, NJ, the east coast’s gambling destination. First, even south Jersey has a smell to it, though I am told north Jersey smells worse. Second, it’s a lot classier than Vegas. The huge resorts are there, but the huge signs and flashing lights and constant noise aren’t. Inside the casinos is a different story. While I enjoyed dropping a few coins into the slot machines, it was utterly depressing to see so many folks who I know couldn’t afford to be there blowing their money. Too many walkers in there – old people who could barely get around, who through the personal choices they made not to save money earlier in life are now there blowing their social insecurity checks thinking that’s how they’re going to make it big and live out the rest of their lives as high rollers.

That said, thank God we live in a free market economy where people are free to do stupid things with their money. While it’s clearly irresponsible, we sure as heck don’t need the government running such operations making sure everyone is “equal” and distributing the wealth any more than they already are.

With H/T to the Curt Jester, we have a statement from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops:

On June 19, 2006, Professor Daniel Maguire of Marquette University sent two pamphlets to all of the Catholic Bishops in the United States, one entitled The Moderate Roman Catholic Position on Contraception and Abortion and the other A Catholic Defense of Same-Sex Marriage. These pamphlets do not present Catholic teaching. His views about contraception, abortion, same sex “marriage”, as well as the very nature of Church teaching and its authoritative character, cross the legitimate lines of theological reflection and simply enter into the area of false teaching. Such mistaken views should not be confused with the faith and moral teaching of the Catholic Church.

It’s encouraging when a CCB which some consider to be far too theologically weak puts out a statement like this, stating in no uncertain terms that Catholic teaching remains consistent and unchanged regardless of attempts on the part of dissident theologians to mask, soften, or totally change it. Then again, that’s the beauty of the RCC – consistent teaching for 2000 with occasional bumps in the road from dissidents. At least when someone asks me what my Church teaches, I know I can answer that question accurately or find the answer if I don’t know it offhand (find me one mainstream protestant who can say that.)

Controversies like married priests and gay marriage are not the only reasons the Roman Catholic Church is losing influence in the United States.

On Tuesday, Pope Benedict XVI issued a new document rejecting calls to let divorced Catholics who remarry receive Communion.

He also pushed again for parts of the Mass to be celebrated in Latin.

The good news is that the general public can comment on this editorial, and most of the comments are in support of the Church.

Article

We occasionally hear about this – in fact you can look at my recent post on a story from right here in Rome, GA, where a pharmacist wouldn’t obtain Plan B for a local woman and caused the Kroger Co. to have to clarify its position on protecting the rights of pharmacists to their conscience. This story is very similar, it’s about doctors, though.

Although a proposal to protect the conscience rights of health care providers and institutions that don’t want to participate in certain medical procedures isn’t getting much action in Congress, the issue of conscience protection is a hot topic in several states and within the medical community.

The Abortion Nondiscrimination Act of 2007, sponsored by Sen. David Vitter, R-La., has gotten no co-sponsors since its Jan. 22 introduction and no hearings have been scheduled on it by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions.

Both the AMA and the New England Journal of Medicine have been making statements on behalf of doctors’ conscience rights. Yet,

Connecticut legislators are considering a proposal that would require all hospitals receiving public funds — including the state’s four Catholic hospitals — to offer emergency contraception to rape victims, without performing a test to ascertain whether the woman is already pregnant.

…

Across the country, the Oregon Catholic Conference was fighting a similar battle over a bill that would require all health plans paying for prescription drugs to also cover prescription birth control.

That means a health insurance plan for Catholic school teachers could be forced to provide for gravely evil services as well as drugs.

Get the full story.

An Atlanta evangelist named Bryant Wright runs 30-second radio spots as well as tv spots and even a half-hour long radio program from his ministry. The Georgia News Network runs the half-minute radio spots with nearly every one of their 3-minute newscasts running down statewide headlines. Over the years I have found the spots to be anywhere from annoying to mildly interesting. But as I was shaving yesterday morning, I heard this week’s spot, in which Mr. Wright attacks the question of whether someone who has never had the opportunity to hear the gospel has a one way ticket to the lake of fire upon death. Growing up in a Southern Baptist church, of course, I was taught essentially that there’s an urgency to reach the entire world because anyone we don’t reach is going to fry.

I always asked the question, “do we claim our God is a just God?” If so, then it’s obvious – how could He condemn someone to death simply because they are ignorant. How could they choose Him if they didn’t know about Him? This is of course just another reason the Catholic Church was so attractive to me – because She allows for the possibility that one could come to salvation by living according to conscience in the best way one knows how in the absence of awareness of the Gospel (the whole baptism of desire concept.)

What I heard on this Bryant Wright spot was almost agreement with the Church’s concept. Mr. Wright asks the question much as I did, and then simply answers it with a snippet of scripture which says each man will be judged according to his knowledge. It’s interesting that he won’t actually say what will happen to the person’s soul who has never heard the Gospel, possibly because it will enrage his followers and colleagues who are into selling fire insurance. But I have had a conversation with a Deacon who is acquainted with Mr. Wright, who says that Mr. Wright once essentially told him he hears confessions all the time but he can’t give people absolution, in a half-joking way.

Listen to the spot yourself!

Courtesy of CNS, we have this story on the various churches of London who are being truly ecumenical – they are incorporating the religion of GW into their own religions.

The guidebook, which was created by Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Orthodox and evangelical churches in the British capital, provides advice on how Christians can contribute to stopping climate change. It also contains tips on reducing heating bills, for example, fitting insulation and installing energy-efficient lighting.

Article

Controversies like married priests and gay marriage are not the only reasons the Roman Catholic Church is losing influence in the United States.

On Tuesday, Pope Benedict XVI issued a new document rejecting calls to let divorced Catholics who remarry receive Communion.

He also pushed again for parts of the Mass to be celebrated in Latin.

The good news is that the general public can comment on this editorial, and most of the comments are in support of the Church.

Article

The new apostolic exhortation is out…I haven’t had a chance to read it (in fact after I make a few posts I will try and get into it.) Anyway, it’s important so here are some resources:

The Document Itself

Gerald’s Overview (and Gerald has broken this down even more, see links on his blog)

Catholic News Service reports

Christopher West, aka “Mr. Theology of the Body,” has a commentary out from a couple of weeks ago on a new U2 song called Window in the Skies which appears to have much imagery related to “sexual redemption” talked about by JPII. In West’s commentary he mentions meeting Bono and talking with him about TOTB in late 2005; now the new song is out in late 2006.

So, has Bono been reading up on the theology of the body? Perhaps. Or, maybe as John Paul II himself emphasized, these are simply truths that find an echo in every human heart and Bono has tapped into it.

Here are the complete lyrics.

Guess I need to get my ears on the song, and I also need to read up on TOTB so I will know some context about this sexual redemption thing.

Wow, direct mail has never had it so good. Coming to the Rome Forum (for the record, that’s Rome, GA, not the other one) is “Unsealing Revelation’s Mysteries,” a Bible Prophecy Seminar. Starts this coming Friday night and runs through 3/26, excluding 3/20-21. Sean Reed hosts “this exciting journey through Bible prophecy.” The first night is “Revelation’s Prediction for the 21st century.” Apparently, Mr. Reed has located actual dates printed in Revelation that we have somehow missed up to now. And it just goes on from there.

I went to unfoldingrevelation.com to get my free reserved seat tickets, but alas, something isn’t timed right, because there’s nothing but a summary at that website. At the bottom of the page it says “Copyright 2007 Amazing Truths.” Well, a Google search doesn’t reveal much about this particular organization. But, the return address on the mailout says Northwest Evangelism Institute. Google that and again find little information on the organization itself, but several posts to other blogs and message boards.

Looks like this is being put on by the Seventh Day Adventists. So, it could be a lot of fun given their peculiar views on many different topics. Should I go?