Christianity, Killing, and Murder

Some time ago, I responded to a letter whose writer said that all killing was wrong.

He has recently responded in the comment section. See here.

Well, here is my response. The blue words are his from an email (and some of them are from the comment mentioned above).


Thank you for your response. ...

I hope to answer your main points so please let me know if I do not or if I misunderstood what you wrote.

First, you wrote:

To violently take a life is to kill--the image and likeness of God present in each person born into this world. It is therefore impossible to justify the killing of that presence of God, for whatever reason. You cannot love one another, including the enemy, and justifiably kill/murder them simultaneously. Thus, thou shalt not kill (period) has no exceptions.

You seem to be equating killing with murder. Do you regard them as the same? As having the same moral weight?

I do not. I, along with most traditions of morality (both east and west), see a distinction. Killing (a human) is an act whereby a human's life is ended. This can be shooting them, choking them, hitting them with a car, injecting them with a chemical, giving them something poisonous to eat, etc. The death can be unintended or intended. Killing is an act that results in the death of someone. Murder is when someone intentionally takes the human life of an innocent other. You may disagree with this distinction, but it is the distinction advocated by Christianity from its beginnings. The Church has maintained it. She did not come up with it. The Jews had already understood this as can be seen with statements and distinctions drawn from the Old Testament.

So if you regard killing and murder as the same, with no distinctions, we are arguing from different bases. Which means we probably will not come to agreement. But please realize, since you bring in the Christian component to this moral issue, that your view is at odds with Christianity, with the Bible, with God's own words (Gen. 9:6), and with the authority and interpreter of God's Law and Word: the Catholic Church.

The second command God gives humanity (after "be fruitful and multiply") is to kill murderers: "If anyone sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; For in the image of God has man been made." (Gen. 9:6) Because of the value of the human being, God demands the just killing of those who murder, of those who desecrate the special status humans have (as being in the image of God) through murdering them. "Just" because it is giving to one what is his due. "Just" because God, the Creator of humans, demands such a response.

I presume you are Catholic based on your writing in The Tidings. If I am wrong, then appealing to Church authority probably does not carry weight. If I am right, then how do you square your view being at odds with the Church?

As regards God's Word, the fifth commandment should not be understood as literally meaning "Thou shall not kill." Why? Because first off in the Hebrew, it reads "Thou shall not murder." Hebrew has two words that could be used. The one meaning "murder" and not "kill" is used. Therefore, what God said was "Thou shall not murder."

Why did Christians write it differently? Perhaps it is an issue of the Greek language. I will look into that: if Greek had two words to distinguish this and what the Greek translation of the Old Testament had.

Regardless, from the beginning, as can be attested to through a reading of the Early Church Fathers, the Church always regarded the commandment as meaning murder. There was never a blanket prohibition on any killing. (If you say there should have been, then you are departing from the Christian moral tradition, let alone the original meaning of what was said and believed; on this latter point, see St. Paul's writing where he acknowledges the state does have the authority to kill certain criminals. Cf. Romans 13, esp. 13: 1-5.

It is therefore impossible to justify the killing of that presence of God, for whatever reason.

The presence of God is not material. It is not physical stuff in a human. It is an immaterial presence, a spiritual presence, in the person. Therefore, any physical act (killing) cannot kill the immaterial component of a human. We do not say that someone's soul dies. No, we do not because the soul is immaterial and cannot be killed, especially by a physical act. We do not have that power. Thus, the killing of a human being is not the same nor can it be as killing the presence of God within them.

More to your point, "for whatever reason."
There are no times someone may be killed? What about in self-defense? What about to stop Nazis from killing millions of innocent civilians? What about to stop someone from raping a young child? What about from stopping a persistent criminal from attempting to kill your own child? I argue and so does the Church and the Bible that there are times when one may kill. In fact, even should kill. The "should" may sound too strong, but my only point is to show that there are times when one may justifiably kill.

You cannot love one another, including the enemy, and justifiably kill/murder them simultaneously.

What do you understand "love" to mean? Love, as understood by the Church and many of the great thinkers in the Church, is to will the good of another. What is the good of another? What his nature calls for and what is his due. Love means we facilitate his journey to Christ. Love means we are witnesses to truth in this world. Love also means that one supports another getting what is his due. If someone is guilty of a crime, they much pay the punishment. It is not a lack of love to support punishment. It is not love to say someone should not be punished. If someone merits Hell, love does not say God is mean. Rather, love says that is what the person chose through their actions. They are getting what they sought: a life separate from God. Here, however, it is an everlasting life. Thus, to love someone is to seek the good for them. The good is what their nature calls for and/or what they deserve by their actions. This can be rewards or it can be punishments. Killing murderers is a just punishment. (I am not saying all murderers should be killed. I am saying that it is permissable by morality and by biblical morality. I think those who have demonstrated a willingness to murder by actually doing so and are a continued threat to hurting others should be put to death. I think just war is a possibility and that enemy combatants in a just war may be killed. And these instances, by definition, are not murder and are thus morally permissable.)

Thus, thou shalt not kill (period) has no exceptions.

Wrong. It does have exceptions. The Bible itself speaks of times when killing is not only permitted but called for (cf. Gen 9.6, Rom. 13). The Church has always understood "Thou shall not kill" as meaning "Thou shall not murder" because some forms of killing are permissable.

Your next paragraph has a lot to consider. First, all the examples you state are moments of personal not civil instruction. I understand this to mean that one should not take the law into his own hands. That when one wrongs me, I should turn the other cheek. That does not mean that when one wrongs an innocent and vulnerable person that I turn their cheek or even mind. I defend the innocent and vulnerable. I defend them even if that means inflicting force on the aggressor. I defend them even if that means having to kill the would-be rapist, attacker, murderer, etc.

There is a difference between violence and force. Force is typically the use of power of some sort (physical, emotional, moral, psychological, etc.). Violence is the unjust use of force. An important distinction.

God alone, as the author of life, has the right to give and take life.

And God has the authority as the author of life to instruct us to impose punishment and even to take the life of murderers: Gen. 9:6: "If anyone sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; For in the image of God has man been made." Does not God have the authority to transfer this right? As possessor of this right, to demand those in this world to administer justice? He does and did. Here in Genesis and further through the ages.

NO WAR (war is terrorism)

War by its very nature is terrorism? Was the fight against the Nazis terrorism? Was the fight against the Japanese terrorism? Was the fight against the Communists attempting to bully and persecute the South Koreans terrorism? Was the fight against Saddam Hussein and his invasion of Kuwait terrorism. Iraq invades Kuwait. What is Kuwait to do? Turn the other cheek and be massacred? I am not saying every war the US has fought has been just. I am only saying that some wars can be and are just. Some wars are morally permissable. Further, war is not terrorism. You are conflating the terms. Some wars may entail terrorism, but war in itself is not terrorism. Terrorism means to attack innocent civilians (non-combatants) for some political or ideological purpose. There is a difference. What some Arabs in Israel have done is terrorism. They target innocent civilians to further their cause. The same was true of the IRA in North Ireland and Britain. The same was/is true of ETA in Spain. And so on.

I find it interesting that you included in your list "NO POVERTY."
Do you think that poverty is engineered or intended to keep people down? Who wants to continue this "poverty"? All public officials or representatives I know of want to help those in poverty. There is just disagreement on how and what works best.

Curious, do you think direct abortions are wrong and should be outlawed (either outright or gradually)? Is this a form of oppression and violence upon those innocent and vulnerable ones in the womb?

That said, I realize I probably did not answer all your points. I hope I answered the main points and enough of the points to cause you to rethink some of your positions. If they continue to be your positions, that is your choice, but they are not the views of the Church nor of traditional Christianity.

In Christ,

"Only in America"

What a way to start "being an American"!

Man Takes Citizenship Oath, Wins Lottery

DES MOINES, Iowa (Sept. 27) - A man who immigrated from Kenya to the United States found prosperity beyond his expectations on the day he became a U.S. citizen.

Shortly after Moses Bittok, of West Des Moines, took the oath of citizenship on Friday, he discovered he had a $1.89 million winning ticket from the Iowa Lottery's Hot Lotto game.

"It's almost like you adopted a country and then they netted you $1.8 million,'' Bittok said Monday as he cashed in his ticket. "It doesn't happen anywhere - I guess only in America.''

(HT: PrismWarden)

Democrats and Descartes

Perhaps Descartes was right. Some centuries ago, Descartes coined the phrase, "I think therefore I am." Known by many as the Cogito (Cogito ergo sum), it basically means that since I can think in some way (even doubting many things), since my mind is at work in some way, I must exist. Cogito ergo sum. I must exist because if I did not exist then I could not perform the act of thinking. If I can think, then at least I am certain that I exist.

That said, The Borowitz Report hits on a striking irony:

SCIENTISTS DOUBT EXISTENCE OF DEMOCRATS

Opposition Party Could Be Black Hole, Expert Says

With President George W. Bush’s approval ratings plummeting in recent weeks, the inability on the part of Democrats to capitalize on the president’s waning fortunes has caused some leading scientists to postulate that the Democratic Party may not exist at all.

Dr. Marisa Drazin, a leading scientist who for years has been questioning the existence of Democrats, said today that what many have thought to be the Democratic Party may in fact be nothing more than a black hole.

“When the president loses ten or twelve approval points, one would normally expect those approval points to go to the opposition party,” Dr. Drazin said. “But instead, those points have vanished into thin air, leading one to conclude that the so-called Democratic Party does not exist.”

Theories about the nonexistence of the Democratic Party are nothing new, said Dr. Drazin, who pointed out that scientists first developed them during the 1988 presidential campaign of then-Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis.

While the silence of the Democratic Party in recent weeks seems to bolster theories of the party’s nonexistence, she said, there are still some nagging pieces of evidence to the contrary, such as the perpetually outspoken DNC chairman, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean.

“I’ve discussed the Howard Dean phenomenon with my colleagues,” Dr. Drazin said. “And it’s the consensus of the scientific community that there is no logical explanation for Howard Dean.” [Because there is no logic in his rants?]

This just might explain quite a bit.

If thinking is one sign of a thing's existence, then would the contrary be applicable? Non-thinking is a sign of non-existence? The leaders of the Democratic Party and other Leftists are often known for their lack of thought and rational activity with regard to policy decisions (as Dennis Prager has so clearly demonstrated). They are better known for their alleged empathy. They feel the pain of those involved, of those victimized. They express emotional responses to political problems rather than rationally-based answers. They seek legislation that makes certain people "feel" better about issues. Thus, the absence of thinking going on. No thinking, no existence? Hmmm. No political/public existence of Democrats because they are not/cannot think politically? Hmmm. Borowitz might be on to something.

Special Forces Kill No. 2 Terrorist in Iraq

Good news from Iraq: U.S. Special Forces Kill No. 2 Terrorist in Iraq.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Special Forces killed Al Qaeda's No. 2 terror mastermind in Iraq, Defense Department officials said.

FOX News has confirmed that Abu Azzam, who was believed to have been in charge of the financing of terrorist cells in the war-torn country, was killed during a raid in Baghdad early Monday morning Iraq time. Azzam is thought to be the top deputy to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Iraq's most wanted terrorist.

Azzam is the latest in a series of top Zarqawi deputies that have been killed or captured by coalition forces in recent months. Zarqawi's Al Qaeda in Iraq group has taken responsibility for some of the country's most horrific acts of terror including car bombings, kidnappings and beheadings of Iraqi civilians and westerners.

I wonder what would happen if the media reported the good news too. For that, go here and here.

Rita and SciGuy

Hope they are not hit as hard as some think. Here is a projection of where it will hit.



Houston Chronicle's SciGuy has good updates and links.

The Wright Athlete

Here is an article on the Wright kind of water polo player: "Wright in the Middle."

Wright is a 2004 All-CIF Southern Section Division I second-team selection, a two-time first-team Press-Telegram Dream Teamer and a 2005 Junior Olympics Honorable Mention All-American. He even made the U.S. National Youth Age Group team over the summer.

"He's really a mobile player and he's quick. We kind of switch off him depending who is in foul trouble," Newport Harbor attacker Clay Jorth said. "We don't drop off him because we know that he's a big threat. We try to keep him out of the picture."

A high school athlete worth knowing about.

Hugh's Questions and Demons

Hugh has started a blog for theologically-based discussion: OneTrueGodBlog.

He poses some questions and gets responses from these Christian (Protestant, Orthodox, and Catholic) thinkers: Albert Mohler, John Mark Reynolds, Mark D. Roberts, Amy Welborn, David Allen White. In the first set of posts, the discussion is based upon these questions:

Subject one: The Exorcism of Emily Rose is a movie about demon possession. Millions of Americans --the majority of them young adults-- have seen this movie.

Questions: Do you believe in demons? Why? What should be the attitude of a mature Christian believer on the subject?

What are your answers? Mine will follow somewhat soon. However, to answer the first, yes, I believe not so much in demons as that they exist. A significant difference.

Clinton Legacy Lives On

Aspects of the Clinton legacy.

These are not good signs, but they are what our society has reaped.

You can check out one of his effects on our society here in this UCSF study published in Pediatrics. (HT: Al Rantel)

And let's not forget "MOMMY, WHAT'S A RAINBOW PARTY?"

Intelligent Military

You have got to love this photo!

The picture shows that this soldier has been thru Survival School and learned his lessons well. He's giving the sign of "coercion" with his left hand. These hand signs are taught in survival school to be used by POW's as a method of posing messages back to our intelligence services who may view the photo or video. This guy was obviously being coerced into shaking hands with Hillary Clinton. It's ironic how little she knew that he would so inform us about the photo---perhaps because she's never understood our military to begin with.

Judge Roberts: Play Ball!

In his confirmation hearings for SCOTUS Chief Justice, Judge Roberts compared the role of a judge to that of an umpire.

"Judges are like umpires," he said.

"Umpires don't make the rules. They apply them. The role of an umpire and a judge is critical. They make sure everybody plays by the rules. But it is a limited role. Nobody ever went to a ball game to see the umpire." Then Judge Roberts promised: "I will remember it is my job to call balls and strikes and not to pitch or bat."

For more on this comparison, see Manuel Miranda's "The Umpire Strikes Back: In praise of baseball, apple pie, motherhood and judicial restraint."

Lynn Swann: A Future in GOP?

"I believe Pennsylvania needs leadership from outside the box."

Lynn Swann has his eyes on the GOP nomination for governor of Pennsylvania:

Swann is a rare creature, indeed. The son of Democrats is an African-American Republican, something once thought to be an oxymoron. His potential ability to excite both suburban conservatives and urban African-Americans intrigues national GOP operatives. A year from November, Swann arguably could be the nation's highest ranking elected Republican African-American -- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was, of course, selected by President George Bush. From that platform, it would not be inconceivable to imagine a run at the presidency in 2012.

...

Swann's staff includes some of the same experts that got Tom Ridge, a once-obscure congressman from Erie, in the northwestern corner of the state, elected governor in 1995. Ridge served during 1995-2001, before becoming Bush's first Office of Homeland Security advisor. Ray Zaborney, who helped engineer Ridge's victory, is executive director of Team 88. Mark Holman, Ridge's former chief of staff, is a consultant.

...

In a September 2004 Web chat organized by the Bush campaign, Swann addressed the issue of his diversity: "I am always somewhat amused by the fact that some people would ask, 'Why as an African-American am I a Republican?' In many cases, my response is, 'Why not a Republican?' Why is it such a grand assumption that African-Americans should be Democrats when historically the Republican Party has been a leader on issues important to African-Americans?"

Hurricane Katrina: If Blame Is What They Want, Look amongst Their Own

There are so many on the left who are criticizing--no, make that highly condemning--the federal response to Hurricane Katrina. Read into that a vicious attack upon President Bush. The federal response may be subject to criticism, but Democrats and leftists seem to imply from their critiques that Bush is the main one, and perhaps only one, responsible for the resulting dire circumstances that ensued.

This just seems to fly in the face of common sense. Why are they not looking into the actions of those local officials who were/are most directly responsible for situations like these? What about the mayor? What about the local politicians, city council? What about the governor?

Why did the local officials not follow the emergency plans that were drawn up for this type of situation?

Why is it that it was President Bush who had to intervene because the mayor and the governor were negligent in their duties?

Bob Williams in "After the Storm" explains with detail many of the lapses of judgment and thus action on the part of those officials who were much closer to the situation, those who are more directly related and responsible for the horror that resulted.

Subtitled "Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin failed their constituents," Williams goes on to write that

Many in the media are turning their eyes toward the federal government, rather than considering the culpability of city and state officials. I am fully aware of the challenges of having a quick and responsive emergency response to a major disaster. And there is definitely a time for accountability; but what isn't fair is to dump on the federal officials and avoid those most responsible--local and state officials who failed to do their job as the first responders. The plain fact is, lives were needlessly lost in New Orleans due to the failure of Louisiana's governor, Kathleen Blanco, and the city's mayor, Ray Nagin.

The primary responsibility for dealing with emergencies does not belong to the federal government. It belongs to local and state officials who are charged by law with the management of the crucial first response to disasters. First response should be carried out by local and state emergency personnel under the supervision of the state governor and his emergency operations center.

The actions and inactions of Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin are a national disgrace due to their failure to implement the previously established evacuation plans of the state and city. Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin cannot claim that they were surprised by the extent of the damage and the need to evacuate so many people. Detailed written plans were already in place to evacuate more than a million people. The plans projected that 300,000 people would need transportation in the event of a hurricane like Katrina. If the plans had been implemented, thousands of lives would likely have been saved.

In addition to the plans, local, state and federal officials held a simulated hurricane drill 13 months ago, in which widespread flooding supposedly trapped 300,000 people inside New Orleans. The exercise simulated the evacuation of more than a million residents. The problems identified in the simulation apparently were not solved.

...

Mayor Nagin was responsible for giving the order for mandatory evacuation and supervising the actual evacuation: His Office of Emergency Preparedness (not the federal government) must coordinate with the state on elements of evacuation and assist in directing the transportation of evacuees to staging areas. Mayor Nagin had to be encouraged by the governor to contact the National Hurricane Center before he finally, belatedly, issued the order for mandatory evacuation. And sadly, it apparently took a personal call from the president to urge the governor to order the mandatory evacuation.

...

The city's evacuation plan states: "The city of New Orleans will utilize all available resources to quickly and safely evacuate threatened areas." But even though the city has enough school and transit buses to evacuate 12,000 citizens per fleet run, the mayor did not use them. To compound the problem, the buses were not moved to high ground and were flooded. The plan also states that "special arrangements will be made to evacuate persons unable to transport themselves or who require specific lifesaving assistance. Additional personnel will be recruited to assist in evacuation procedures as needed." This was not done.

The evacuation plan warned that "if an evacuation order is issued without the mechanisms needed to disseminate the information to the affected persons, then we face the possibility of having large numbers of people either stranded and left to the mercy of a storm, or left in an area impacted by toxic materials." That is precisely what happened because of the mayor's failure.

Instead of evacuating the people, the mayor ordered the refugees to the Superdome and Convention Center without adequate security and no provisions for food, water and sanitary conditions. As a result people died, and there was even rape committed, in these facilities. Mayor Nagin failed in his responsibility to provide public safety and to manage the orderly evacuation of the citizens of New Orleans. Now he wants to blame Gov. Blanco and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In an emergency the first requirement is for the city's emergency center to be linked to the state emergency operations center. This was not done.

As for the governor,

The federal government does not have the authority to intervene in a state emergency without the request of a governor. President Bush declared an emergency prior to Katrina hitting New Orleans, so the only action needed for federal assistance was for Gov. Blanco to request the specific type of assistance she needed. She failed to send a timely request for specific aid.

In addition, unlike the governors of New York, Oklahoma and California in past disasters, Gov. Blanco failed to take charge of the situation and ensure that the state emergency operation facility was in constant contact with Mayor Nagin and FEMA. It is likely that thousands of people died because of the failure of Gov. Blanco to implement the state plan, which mentions the possible need to evacuate up to one million people. The plan clearly gives the governor the authority for declaring an emergency, sending in state resources to the disaster area and requesting necessary federal assistance.

...

I am not attempting to excuse some of the delays in FEMA's response. Congress and the president need to take corrective action there, also. However, if citizens expect FEMA to be a first responder to terrorist attacks or other local emergencies (earthquakes, forest fires, volcanoes), they will be disappointed. The federal government's role is to offer aid upon request.

US Defeats Mexico; Sore Losers???

"The U.S. is a small team. They play like my sister, my aunt and my grandmother.''
--Ricardo Lavolpe, Mexico soccer coach

(My, my. A bit touchy, are we?)

What does that say about Mexico since they lost?

By the way, what was the score?

That's right, 2-0. US: 2 goals. Mexico: 0 (that is ZERO) goals!

Midfielder Steve Ralston (19) of the U.S. celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal during the second half of their World Cup qualifying game as Mexico defender Francisco Rodriguez lays on the ground at Crew Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, September 3, 2005. The U.S. beat Mexico 2-0. REUTERS/Matt Sullivan

As US player Landon Donovan said: "They do a lot of talking. They haven't beat us in a long time here. I'm kind of sick of it. There's no better scenario than to beat them easily.''

Like I said, 2-0. US: 2 goals. Mexico: 0 (that is ZERO) goals!

Where Is America?

As the damage from Katrina becomes better known and we see and learn more of the suffering, the blogosphere has a great idea to help:

Bloggers across the country and the political and social spectrum are asking their readers to contrubte to Katrina relief efforts to day.

So please take a look at Instapundit and Truth Laid Bear and find a charity for donating.

From Just a Woman:

"There's no America out there except America to respond to it. We've got to do it ourselves."
--Col. Austen Bay (on the Hugh Hewitt Show, Tuesday, August 30)

Here are my suggestions:
Catholic Charities
Brett Favre Foundation
Feed the Children

"The World Is Flat"?

Here is an article worth reading: "The World Is Flat: But America is a laggard in the tax-reform revolution." Here are snippets, but the whole article is worth reading.

It's about time the concept of taxing all income at a single rate, which presidential candidate Steve Forbes and then-House Majority Leader Dick Armey broached a decade ago, once again takes center stage. It's increasingly popular overseas, with Romania and the republic of Georgia adopting it last January. Greece is likely to introduce a 25% single rate for both corporate and personal income next month. If Poland's opposition parties win next month's elections they are likely to introduce a flat tax. In Italy, the Bruno Leoni Institute has just published an interview with former finance minister and current defense minister Antonio Martino detailing his support of the flat tax.

...

Here at home the flat tax is still routinely ridiculed. When Mr. Forbes floated the idea in 1995, President Clinton joked that Republicans were becoming "the party of flat-earthers and flat-taxers." But he has also told friends privately that he got a real scare during the 1992 primaries when Jerry Brown championed a flat tax. Mr. Brown won applause from audiences by pointing out that under our current system the rich will always be able to hire experts to lobby for tax loopholes and avoid the higher rate traps set for them.

...

If the U.S. doesn't adopt the flat tax it may find itself losing jobs, capital and ambitious entrepreneurs to nations with a more ambitious growth agenda.

...

Alvin Rabushka, a senior fellow at Stanford's Hoover Institution, believes it's only a matter of time before an emerging economic superpower like China or India goes the flat-tax route. His book on the subject has just been published in Chinese, with a preface by Lou Jiwei, the vice minister of finance. If China adopted a flat tax, more than a quarter of the world's population would be filling out tax returns on the back of a postcard. That would leave them a lot of time and money to eat our economic lunch.

Greatest Movie Line

This is hilarious!

Turn on the volume. This is Bob Hope at his best.

Greatest Movie Line Ever

(HT: Argghhh!)

The Great Raid, Hugh, and You

Here is Hugh's "Saving The Great Raid. "

Now what?

Go see it. This weekend go see The Great Raid.

To show support for this movie (and support for our troops, lest anyone read into the low numbers of folks viewing this movie as some sort of apathy or anti-attitude towards the war), go see it and do it this weekend: Aug. 26-28. Spread this around the blogosphere: see The Great Raid this weekend. Honor the efforts of those who have sacrificed to save and protect others.

Honoring Their Sacrifice: Seeing The Great Raid

Every generation proves new heroes, Americans willing to sacrifice all so others can live in freedom. From the fields of Lexington-Concord to the beaches of Normandy to the deserts of the Middle East, these exceptional people answered their country's call, and like all heroes, rush in where others flee.

- Charlie Dent

Check this out and then this weekend go see The Great Raid.

To show support for this movie (and support for our troops, lest anyone read into the low numbers of folks viewing this movie as some sort of apathy or anti-attitude towards the war), go see it and do it this weekend: Aug. 26-28.

Spread this around the blogosphere: see The Great Raid this weekend. Honor the efforts of those who have sacrificed to save and protect others.

Benedict's 1st World Youth Day (WYD). Answering Hewitt.

Hugh's suggestion:

Perhaps RomanCatholicBlog or some other Catholic blog will collect the various reviews of Benedict's first foreign trip.

So here it goes (with updates as I find them):

First off, there are "News, Press reports, Documents" and other official statements and homilies.

More official documents--addresses, homilies, etc.--these all translated into English, from WYD. (HT: Hugh)

Vatican Radio has a collection of photos from the week.

In one of the most controversial statements from the week, Cardinal Christoph Schonborn

has boldly suggested that Pope Benedict's visit to Cologne for World Youth Day this week will mark a turning point of the history of Germany in particular and Europe in general.

For more of Schonborn's words, see the article "Pope Benedict Will Transform Europe, Cardinal Predicts."

Then there are:

Benedict and World Youth Day: Becoming Adults in Christ
by Kishore Jayabalan, Director of Istituto Acton

Pope Benedict XVI is back in the international media spotlight this week, gracing the covers of Time and Newsweek, as he makes his first trip outside of Italy, to Cologne, Germany for the 20th World Youth Day. That a Catholic youth gathering is now a
global event worthy of such attention is a testament to Pope John Paul II; now the trip is presented as a sort of “test” for Benedict.

and B16 At WYD Cologne
(Michelle Arnold)

When the new pope was announced, Catholic Answers staffers were crammed into the office's conference room eagerly watching the television reports of the event (and nearly blew the roof off with cheers when Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was announced as Pope). In the hubbub that followed, I exclaimed that the upcoming World Youth Day was being held in Cologne, Germany, and a coworker commented that perhaps a positive spirituality is developing around World Youth Day.

Well, Pope Benedict XVI is now in Cologne, Germany ....

We must not forget Sandro at Chiesa. In "From Cologne to the Conquest of Europe: How the Muslim Brotherhood is Challenging the Pope," he offers his thoughts on the pope's then-upcoming meeting with Muslim leaders.

Then from Papabile:

To amuse myself, I went to Google News....

Searches resulted in:

+"world youth day" +gay 180 stories
+"world youth day" +abortion 176 stories
+"world youth day" +condoms 139 stories

+"world youth day" +eucharist 42 stories [which a couple days later was overtaken by beer which rocketed to 56 while the Eucharist was at 51]

+"world youth day" +beer 5 stories

+"world youth day" +ferret 1 story

Off the Record (Diogenes) at Catholic World News has quite a selection of responses to WYD.

They link to John L. Allen Jr. of National Catholic Reporter. Allen is keeping a "Correspondent's Notebook." I am not a big fan of some of his interpretations, but he has recognized (publically no less) some of his prior faults as a journalist, noting how his first book on then-Cardinal Ratzinger was not fair nor was it good journalism. Anyhow, he offers a somewhat different perspective.

Then he also has this report: "Do-it-yourself religion 'cannot ultimately help us,' pope tells youth. 'Preserve communion with the pope and the bishops,' Benedict says." Wherein Allen writes:

In his homily at the Mass concluding World Youth Day, Benedict challenged the crowd of one million gathered on the Marienfeld plain outside Cologne to submit to God, not as a denial of their freedom, but as an embrace of a truth that saves.

"Freedom is not simply about enjoying life in total autonomy, but rather about living by the measure of truth and goodness, so that we ourselves can become true and good," he said.

He took square aim at what is sometimes called "cafeteria Catholicism" -- the tendency of believers to pick and choose among church teachings, constructing their own system.

Here is an interview with Cardinal George Pell of Sydney (where WYD 2008 will be held, as was announced today).

Here is a forum run by Washington Post with John L. Allen, Jr. and readers.

L.A. Catholic has some thoughts/reflections worth reading, especially his "Tale of Two Cathedrals." A view of Cologne and Los Angeles. What a difference!

LifeSite reports that "World Youth Day Organizers Distance Themselves from Pro-Abortion UN Speaker."

Since LifeSiteNews.com broke the story of the pro-abortion United Nations representative Eveline Herfkens who was to speak at World Youth Day, there has been a flurry activity to protest the move. Numerous LifeSiteNews.com readers, Human Life International, and the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute lobbied Cardinals and World Youth Day organizers in Germany to put a stop to the scandal. (See the original LifeSiteNews.com story here: http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/aug/05080908.html )

Amy Welborn's Open Book has some good thoughts, posts, and especially photos from WYD.

Catholic journalist Tim Drake blogs from Cologne. He was on assignment for National Catholic Register and Faith and Family magazine. He has many posts and photos worth seeing, especially "Cologne Is Going to the Dogs."

And did you know that Baghdad got in on the spirit of WYD?

More than 1,000 Roman Catholic youths gathered in Baghdad to celebrate World Youth Day and ask for the pontiff's blessing "at this most difficult time for our country," the Vatican said Saturday.

Pope Benedict XVI, who is in Germany for the Catholic youth festival, received the Iraqi youths' message "with joy and commotion," the Vatican said.

Vaticanisti has good photos from WYD. Check out the second one on "I Must Decrease and He Must Increase." Now, that is a lot of people!

Vatican Watcher also has some good photos and links to events/news related to WYD.

Rocco at Whispers in the Loggia offers some concluding thoughts on the whole World Youth Day experience: "Last Words on Cologne."

The Ratzinger Fan Club blog, Against the Grain, has a collection of links dealing with WYD.

UPDATE:

Steve at Speculative Catholic is already thinking about WYD 2008 in Sydney, Australia. He suggests "having a get-together for bloggers." He calls it "Godblogging Sydney 2008."

Amy Welborn seems to like the idea and adds to it her desire to start "conversations with the Vatican Press Office about credentialing bloggers unassociated with the mainstream press - a WYD Blogger's Row." Good idea. They should read Hugh's book Blog to see the impact of such an idea.

Brandon A. Evans at The Criterion has concluding thoughts and a lot of photos. (HT: Amy Welborn)

The Belmont Club has a commentary on Benedict's speech to Muslim leaders. Wretchard writes:

Although the Pope's speech was delivered to Muslims, his real audience is inevitably going to be the West in general and Christians in particular. Realistically, Benedict's message will reach ordinary Muslims only at third hand in a heavily distorted way; it can hardly be expected to sway them. But the signal it sends to the West, at least to those who look up to him as a moral and religious leader, is that here is something we cannot look away from. Ambiguous though it may be, his message has run the PC blockade.

and closes with

Therefore, the Pope seems to say to the Muslims in the room, survival is in our hands and that means yours too.
"You guide Muslim believers and train them in the Islamic faith. Teaching is the vehicle through which ideas and convictions are transmitted. Words are highly influential in the education of the mind. You, therefore, have a great responsibility for the formation of the younger generation."

UPDATE:

Mark D. Roberts weighs in on the speech to Muslim leaders. He further plans to post thoughts on the pope's words to 800,000 youth at the Saturday vigil and 1,000,000 young people at Sunday Mass. (HT: Hugh)

UPDATE:

At National Review Online, Colleen Carroll Campbell writes that "World Youth Day was never just about Pope John Paul II." As important as the messenger was, and still is, "The Message Does Count."

UPDATE:

Even Pope Benedict XVI himself reflects on the events and significance of World Youth Day: "Benedict XVI Reflects on His Trip to Germany 'Young People Relaunched … the Message of Hope.'"

Looking for thoughts and reflections on the liturgies. Have heard some worrisome comments them.

For a selection of some of Ratzinger's great earlier writings (before he was pope), go here.

Will keep adding WYD thoughts/news/photo links as I find them. Send them to wperales@yahoo.com or post them in the comment section below.

What I'm Reading

Legacy by Steve Wood
Christian Fatherhood by Steve Wood

Searching for and Maintaining Peace: A Small Treatise on Peace of Heart by Jacques Philippe


Continually reading something by Pope Benedict XVI, Fr. James V. Schall, SJ, Msgr. Luigi Giussani, Bernard Lewis, and whatever I can find that deals with Islam and how the violence/terrorism of today's militant Muslims (those that might be called "Islamists" to distinguish them from other Muslims) relates to the survival of the West.



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and my ongoing, never-ending quest to understand metaphysics just a tad bit more:

Wisdom in the Face of Modernity: A Study in Thomistic Natural Theology by Fr. Thomas Joseph White, OP

And periodically as they come in:

Cucina Italiana magazine

Traces magazine

First Things journal

Communio journal

Nova et Vetera journal

Thoughts on The Great Raid

Worth reading: "The Great Raid--A MUST SEE!"
Now go see the movie.

Mellifluous Doctor

Today is the feast day of St. Bernard:

From a sermon by St. Bernard, abbot

I love because I love, I love that I may love

Love is sufficient of itself, it gives pleasure by itself and because of itself. It is its own merit, its own reward. Love looks for no cause outside itself, no effect beyond itself. Its profit lies in its practice. I love because I love, I love that I may love. Love is a great thing so long as it continually returns to its fountainhead, flows back to its source, always drawing from there the water which constantly replenishes it. Of all the movements, sensations and feelings of the soul, love is the only one in which the creature can respond to the Creator and make some sort of similar return however unequal though it be. For when God loves, all he desires is to be loved in return; the sole purpose of his love is to be loved, in the knowledge that those who love him are made happy by their love of him.

The Bridegroom’s love, or rather the love which is the Bridegroom, asks in return nothing but faithful love. Let the beloved, then, love in return. Should not a bride love, and above all, Love’s bride? Could it be that Love not be loved?Rightly then does she give up all other feelings and give herself wholly to love alone; in giving love back, all she can do is to respond to love. And when she has poured out her whole being in love, what is that in comparison with the unceasing torrent of that original source? Clearly, lover and Love, soul and Word, bride and Bridegroom, creature and Creator do not flow with the same volume; one might as well equate a thirsty man with the fountain.

What then of the bride’s hope, her aching desire, her passionate love, her confident assurance? Is all this to wilt just because she cannot match stride for stride with her giant, any more than she can vie with honey for sweetness, rival the lamb for gentleness, show herself as white as the lily, burn as bright as the sun, be equal in love with him who is Love? No. It is true that the creature loves less because she is less. But if she loves with her whole being, nothing is lacking where everything is given. To love so ardently then is to share the marriage bond; she cannot love so much and not be totally loved, and it is in the perfect union of two hearts that complete and total marriage consists. Or are we to doubt that the soul is loved by the Word first and with a greater love?

Now, off to have some Italian food and vino. The proper way to live a feast day: to feast.

Plans for This Weekend? See The Great Raid

Check this out and then this weekend go see The Great Raid.

To show support for this movie (and support for our troops, lest anyone read into the low numbers of folks viewing this movie as some sort of apathy or anti-attitude towards the war), go see it and do it this weekend. And/or next weekend too. Let's make it the next two weekends: Aug. 19-21 and Aug. 26-28.

Spread this around the blogosphere: see The Great Raid over the next two weekends.

Returning to His Homeland: World Youth Day

World Youth Day begins:

The faith should be proclaimed by believers "from this land in the heart of Europe, a Europe which owes so much to the Gospel and its witness down through the centuries," the pontiff said.

RomanCatholicBlog should have good and timely updates.

CWNews.com reports:

"It's an extraordinary event when the youth of all parts of the world and all cultures come together in unity in the search for truth, unity in the love of Jesus Christ," [the Holy Father] said.

...

"With great joy I find myself, for the first time since my election to the chair of St. Peter, in my beloved homeland," Pope Benedict said. "I thank God, who has made it possible for me to begin my pastoral trips outside Italy with this visit to the land of my birth."

Great Raid & A Grunt's Defense of the War

Check this out and then this weekend go see The Great Raid.

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Responding to some "stupid" comments from another site, Boots in Baghdad let loose a torrent of a defense for the war in Iraq. Read this apologia:

Wow, I don't even know where to start. I suppose I should start with Iraq, because I am here right now. So you say Saddam had no WMD's? Perhaps you should ask the hundreds of thousands of Iranians, Kuwaitis, Kurds and Iraqis that suffered their wrath. So you say that Saddam Hussein didn't have links to terrorism? We have arrested dozens and dozens of members of Al Queida members in Iraq, not to mention the foreign fighters coming in from Afghanistan, Iran, Syria and Jordan all linked to various terror cells. If any of you really cared about what was happening in Iraq you would attempt to educate yourselves a little bit. Since the invasion the U.S. and other members of the coalition have helped accomplish the following: Build over 3,000 schools, now there are over 20,000 schools up and running with over 6,000,000 students being taught by over 300,000 teachers. We have given life saving vaccinations to over 3,000,000 children. Over 26,000 Iraqi businesses have been started. The Iraqi people have received over $25 billion dollars in oil revenues. Over 1,000 construction projects have been completed and 2,500 projects are underway. There are over 76,000 soldiers in the new Iraqi Army, another 12,000 in training. There are over 92,000 Iraqi Police Officers on the streets with 3,500 coming out of training every day. Iraq's stock exchange has been up and running for over a year. Not to mention a ruthless tyrant has been jailed and a nation liberated.

(HT: Mrs Greyhawk)

Going to the Raid

Apparently, there are some who are worried about the receipts from the opening of The Great Raid. (HT: Hugh)

This movie is worth supporting for a variety of reasons. Most important of these reasons is showing support for the more accurate production of war movies. There are the intentionally anti-war (or perhaps I should say anti-current-war) programs like Over There (here and here too). However, The Great Raid is supposed to be something different.

According to Yahoo! Movies,

Set in the Philippines in 1945, "The Great Raid" tells the true story of the 6th Ranger Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Henry Mucci (Benjamin Bratt) who undertake a daring rescue mission against all odds. Traveling thirty miles behind enemy lines, the 6th Ranger Battalion aims to liberate over 500 American prisoners-of-war from the notorious Cabanatuan Japanese POW camp in the most audacious rescue ever.

Remember Bataan Death March?

To show support for this movie (and support for our troops, lest anyone read into the low numbers of folks viewing this movie as some sort of apathy or anti-attitude towards the war), go see it and do it this weekend. And next weekend too. Let's make it the next two weekends: Aug. 19-21 and Aug. 26-28.

Spread this around the blogosphere: see The Great Raid the next two weekends.

Send a message to the film industry about the types of movies we will support: the good ones with more accurate portrayals of our nation's past events, especially those that entailed extreme sacrifice and courage ... and moreso when these events happened while in the pursuit of doing good for others.

Supporting Roberts

After Hugh had Jay Alan Sekulow on his radio show today, I checked out the site for American Center for Law and Justice. Worth visiting. Here is a bit about them:

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) specializes in constitutional law and is based in Washington, D.C.

Through our work in the courts and the legislative arena, the ACLJ is dedicated to protecting your religious and constitutional freedoms.

In addition to providing its legal services at no cost to our clients, the ACLJ focuses on the issues that matter most to you – national security, protecting America’s families, and protecting human life. You can learn more about our work through Jay Sekulow Live! -- our daily radio broadcast and through ACLJ This Week -- a nationally broadcast weekly television program.

A Little Late but Worth the Read

I meant to post this but never did. Then I had trouble finding it:
The Story Behind the Video.

The Fullness of Days Ahead

This is the beginning of a very powerful set of days. Days that lend themselves to much contemplation ... and action. Let alone is the fact that today's readings (especially the Gospel passage) are themselves suggestive.

Tomorrow is the feast day of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (and I will definitely celebrate it and honor it with a feast as I gather with some friends from CL), which is followed by St. Stephen of Hungary. Then as the days roll on, we have St Jane Frances de Chantal, St John Eudes, and one of my favorites: St. Bernard.

This Mellifluous Doctor is known for many things, but one that is most dear to me is his commentary on the Song of Songs (or you can find them here). These sermons are seeped and soaked deeply with the effulgence of Divine Love. One cannot do wrong by turning to St. Bernard for expression of God's love for us, for the extent of God's longing and self-emptying--His kenosis--in order that man be redeemed and join Him in the heavenly banquet. I strongly recommend reading the first volume of these sermons. It is bound to whet your appetite for more of the Divinely-inspired mellifluous musings.

Then we progress towards the Queenship of Our Lady (a day that is the anniversary of my marian consecration, which I did at the Rue du Bac in Paris during World Youth Day '97), St Rose of Lima, St. Bartholomew, a few others, and culminate (for some) in the feast days of St. Monica and the Beheading of John the Baptist. A whirlwind of saints.

Aside from tutoring, working on my "play" paper, and coaching soccer practices, I will do as I did for St. Thomas and have a feast in St. Bernard's honor, having built up to that day by enjoying my time re-reading some of his sermons, most especially those on the Song of Songs:

O that you would kiss me with the kisses of your mouth! For your love is better than wine, your anointing oils are fragrant, your name is oil poured out; therefore the maidens love you. Draw me after you, let us make haste. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will exult and rejoice in you; we will extol your love more than wine; rightly do they love you.

3/1 at Work: Another Video Worth Watching

Thanks to Froggy:

Meanwhile, Peg C sent me this video link of India Co. 3/1 swinging the pipe in Fallujah last year. Do yourself a favor and watch it if only so you can see the kind of jeopardy our troops are putting themselves in to keep us safe here at home.

Marines at work. Not 1/5, but they're still Marines, and more importantly they're Americans fighting on our behalf. These guys are working hard and taking it to the enemy like so many of us here at home wanted done during the fight for Fallujah. Watch the video.

Check This Out!

Saw this cool video of a chase scene. Don't know what it is from, but it looks like those European-style commercials that used to precede the trailers before a movie.
(HT: Philomathean via Froggy)

Finally, I've Found It! Ratzinger at Subiaco

A few months back, I spoke to various folks about a lecture then-Cardinal Ratzinger gave at a Benedictine monastery--actually, one of "the" Benedictine monasteries. He gave the talk the day before Pope John Paul the Great passed away. Reading it is utterly striking, considering the events that transpired in the ensuing days, culminating of course with his election to the papacy.

Well, I have finally found it, thanks to author Michael O'Brien. More like O'Brien sent out a mass email with the talk linked.

Europe’s Crisis of Culture

by Cardinal Josef Ratzinger

A translation of the lecture given in Italian by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XIV, in the convent of Saint Scholastica in Subiaco, Italy, the day before Pope John Paul II died. This lecture took place April 1, when he received the St. Benedict Award for the promotion of life and the family in Europe. (Translation by the Rome-based Catholic news agency www.zenit.org)

We are living in a time of great dangers and great opportunities for man and the world; a time which is also of great responsibility for us all. During the past century man's possibilities and his dominion over matter grew by truly unthinkable measures. However, his power to dispose of the world has been such as to allow his capacity for destruction to reach dimensions which at times horrify us. In this connection, the threat of terrorism comes spontaneously to mind, this new war without boundaries or fronts.

He further introduces aspects of this theme, then he deals with such topics as "A new moralism," "Godless society," "Culture of rights," "Universal culture?," "Knowing is doing," "Removing God," "The Permanent Significance of the Christian Faith," "'As if God existed,'" and then he concludes:

Above all, that of which we are in need at this moment in history are men who, through an enlightened and lived faith, render God credible in this world. The negative testimony of Christians who speak about God and live against him, has darkened God's image and opened the door to disbelief. We need men who have their gaze directed to God, to understand true humanity. We need men whose intellects are enlightened by the light of God, and whose hearts God opens, so that their intellects can speak to the intellects of others, and so that their hearts are able to open up to the hearts of others.

Only through men who have been touched by God, can God come near to men. We need men like Benedict of Norcia, who at a time of dissipation and decadence, plunged into the most profound solitude, succeeding, after all the purifications he had to suffer, to ascend again to the light, to return and to found Montecasino, the city on the mountain that, with so many ruins, gathered together the forces from which a new world was formed.

In this way Benedict, like Abraham, became the father of many nations. The recommendations to his monks presented at the end of his "Rule" are guidelines that show us also the way that leads on high, beyond the crisis and the ruins.

"Just as there is a bitter zeal that removes one from God and leads to hell, so there is a good zeal that removes one from vices and leads to God and to eternal life. It is in this zeal that monks must exercise themselves with most ardent love: May they outdo one another in rendering each other honor, may they support, in turn, with utmost patience their physical and moral infirmities . . . May they love one another with fraternal affection . . . Fear God in love . . . Put absolutely nothing before Christ who will be able to lead all to eternal life" (Chapter 72).

Go check it out here.

Fighting the Right

They are out to counter one of my favorite organizations: Young America's Foundation.

At least 80 wealthy liberals have pledged to contribute $1 million or more apiece to fund a network of think tanks and advocacy groups to compete with the potent conservative infrastructure built up over the past three decades.

A little late to the game, perhaps.

Hiroshima: 60 Years Later

AS USUAL, Victor Davis Hanson has perceptive thoughts about dropping the bomb:

For 60 years the United States has agonized over its unleashing of the world’s first nuclear weapon on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. President Harry Truman’s decision to explode an atomic bomb over an ostensible military target — the headquarters of the crack Japanese 2nd Army — led to well over 100,000 fatalities, the vast majority of them civilians.

...

Postwar generations argued over whether the two atomic bombs, the fire raids, or the August Soviet invasion of Manchuria — or all three combined — prompted Japan to capitulate, whether Hiroshima and Nagasaki were a stain on American democracy, or whether the atomic bombs were the last-gasp antidote to the plague of Japanese militarism that had led to millions of innocents butchered without much domestic opposition or criticism from the triumphalist Japanese people.

But our own generation has more recently once again grappled with Hiroshima, and so the debate rages on in the new age of terrorism and handheld weapons of mass destruction, brought home after an attack on our shores worse than Pearl Harbor — with more promised to come. Perhaps the horror of the suicide bombers of Japan does not seem so distant any more. Nor does the notion of an extreme perversion of an otherwise mainstream religion filling millions with hatred of a supposedly decadent West.

The truth, as we are reminded so often in this present conflict, is that usually in war there are no good alternatives, and leaders must select between a very bad and even worse choice. Hiroshima was the most awful option imaginable, but the other scenarios would have probably turned out even worse.

Eventful Day

IT'S ABOUT TIME: U.S. Military Pounds Insurgents in Iraq.

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THOUGHTFUL response to Harry Potter books:

I first read a Harry Potter novel so I could explain to my older daughter why we don’t read junk like that. As a daddy to seven children whom we homeschool, I decided we wouldn’t have anything to do with Harry after a co-worker had recommended these stories (with no little enthusiasm!) about an English boy who goes to a school to learn witchcraft and wizardry.

Keep reading. It is not what you might think.

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MORE Intelligent Design/Evolution debate news. This time, from a Vatican-affiliated priest.
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AND SOME MORE BIAS that is "not" bias?

President of General Assembly Defends Exclusion of Pro-Life Groups.

The President of the UN General Assembly has responded to complaints from the US Mission that conservative and pro-life NGOs were excluded from recent consultations with the General Assembly in preparation for the upcoming Millennium Development Summit. In a letter sent to the former acting US Ambassador to the UN, Anne Patterson, and obtained by the Friday Fax, Jean Ping denied that pro-life or conservative organizations were denied entry to the hearings on the basis of their beliefs.

Huh? In response,

William L. Saunders, Jr., a Senior Fellow and Director of the Center for Human Life and Bioethics at the Family Research Council, said Ping's definition of diversity is, at the very least, narrow. "The liberal definition of diversity holds that as long as there is racial, or ethnic, or geographic, or gender diversity, you have real diversity," Saunders said. "But that is not true. Real diversity is diversity of opinion."

More leftist, narrow-minded "diversity." Typical. Wouldn't want to be challenged in what we think (or feel), now would we?! Good thing they are so "open-minded."

Goebbels and Al-Zawahri

A thought worth considering. Thanks to Gates of Vienna.

When a Word is Worth ...

When words are telling:

From yesterday's "Best of the Web Today" (James Taranto):

"A 13-year-old giant panda gave birth to a cub at San Diego Zoo, but a second baby died in the womb, officials said Wednesday."--Associated Press, Aug. 3

"A cancer-ravaged woman robbed of consciousness by a stroke has given birth after being kept on life support for three months to give her fetus extra time to develop."--Associated Press, Aug. 3

(HT: IgnatiusInsight)

News Apparently NOT Fit To Print

Where is the coverage of this illegal activity from the Left?

Why are they not reporting this scandal from Air America?

Canseco the Wordsmith

Huh?
In response to Palmeiro's suspension for steroid use, Jose Canseco said,

I think people are now realizing, or starting to realize, that every word, more or less, I said in the book is the absolute truth.

Every word? More or less? Absolute truth?

Flat Tax

A good discussion is on right now on the flat tax. It is on the Dennis Prager Show. Just click here and then, when new screen pops up, click "Listen Live."

Dennis is interviewing Steve Forbes, author of Flat Tax Revolution. The flat tax discussion is on from 10 am - 11 am (PST). In other words, for another 30 minutes from time this posts. Go listen.

What do you think of the flat tax?