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2005-12-12 Great White North

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Posted by Fred 2005-12-12 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11131 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 "the inversion of tyranny"

Heh. Reminds me of "Have a nice day - or else."

Martin's a squirrel.

Posted by .com 2005-12-12 02:30|| 2005-12-12 02:30|| Front Page Top

#2 Ha Ha!!! Payback for the "Do you love Canada?" question aimed at Conservative Stephen Harper. Harper hesitated a bit before answering, "Canada is a great country..." The media was all over Harper for this.

Bravo whoever the reporter was!

Posted by Rafael 2005-12-12 02:45|| 2005-12-12 02:45|| Front Page Top

#3 Not much of Catholic in my book. We call those types "Cultural Catholics" - and they also tend to be Cafeteria Catholics as well. Hardly worthy of the label if they cannot bring themsleves to openly profess their faith.

Anyone not Catholci nor Christian may awnat to ignore the rest of this... its from a very conservative Catholic viewpoint.

Jesus own words: (From Matthew) "whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven."

From Rev: "I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth."

I have more respect to an open, fair and resolute Atheist Libertarian who is willing to stick to his guns on his belief system without trashing others, and bear the price of doing so, than I do for those meay-mouthed PC politicians, those false faith fakers who try to wrap themselves in the mantle of the Church for political gain, while denying its core teachings. The former (Athiests, etc) challenge the Church which ultimately strengthens it, while the latter (fakers of all stripes, including some of the present clergy) weaken the Church from within by rotting the moral fibers and stong demands that belief requires.

People somehow forget how absolutist Christianity is at its core when they get into politics and make their Catholicism into a prop for press release theater. For them its more political playacting, not a cornerstone of their being, the core of their belief system, *cough* kerry-kennedy-schwartzenegger *cough*.

Most of them are getting VERY uncomfortable with the vast intellectual legacy of John Paul the Great, and his successor in spirit and intellect, Pope Benedict. Benedict has shown that he is a moral scholar to match any, and his latest homily was a home run as well, philosophically and liturgically speaking.

As a recent country western song says, its better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you're not. Christianity was never supposed to be a popularity contest, nor was it easy.

His instructions were to pick up our crosses and follow Him. Certainly not easy nor popular, but then again, the best things rarely are a matter of ease or going with the popular crowd.

We enter by the narrow gate, folks. There are no shortcuts, and only one Way Truth and Light on the path.

And not a one of us is perfect - the last one that was, we nailed him to a tree a couple thousand years ago...

Posted by Oldspook 2005-12-12 02:45|| 2005-12-12 02:45|| Front Page Top

#4 We call those types "Cultural Catholics" - and they also tend to be Cafeteria Catholics as well.

There's also Christmas & Easter Catholics, commonly abbreviated to C&E Catholics (of which I am one, unfortunately, though I am planning to change that...I know, I know, the road to hell is paved with good intentions

Posted by Rafael 2005-12-12 02:52|| 2005-12-12 02:52|| Front Page Top

#5 What do I call "a $240 wreath"?
A screwing.

Posted by raptor 2005-12-12 07:31|| 2005-12-12 07:31|| Front Page Top

#6 OldSpook, one of the many things I appreciate about The Burg is hardline athiests like me can get along with committed Christians like you.

The cultural fracture is not between Christians and Athiests as the Left claims.

Posted by phil_b">phil_b 2005-12-12 07:47|| 2005-12-12 07:47|| Front Page Top

#7 The cultural fracture is not between Christians and Athiests as the Left claims.

Ay-men...

Posted by Admiral Allan Ackbar 2005-12-12 08:12|| 2005-12-12 08:12|| Front Page Top

#8 Hear, hear!

Posted by trailing wife 2005-12-12 09:25|| 2005-12-12 09:25|| Front Page Top

#9 Belief?

The only thing I believe is that I form considered opinions on the basis of factual evidence. Not the 125th hand babblings of other "humans". (Is that pompous enough?)

Religiously I'm Agnostic, if I can't justify a belief in God's existence based on what other humans have said, why should I base a belief in God's non-existence on what other humans have said? Some things are just flat out unknowable and to pretend otherwise is to engage in arrogant self-delusion.

Now, does all this mean that I don't keep to the family traditions of Christmas? Hell NO, nobody ever said I was perfectly consistent. If nothing else Christmas is a tradition that supports and nourishes much of what is best in our culture. And whether Christ and the divinity is real or a legend, the history of Christmas and what it means as celebrated by humans is very real and worthy of respect.

So Merry Christmas to all (and screw your PC Happy Holidays) ;^)

Posted by AlanC">AlanC 2005-12-12 10:21|| 2005-12-12 10:21|| Front Page Top

#10 Blandly Inoffensive, Politically Correct, Generic Seasonal Greeting to All
And to All, a Good Night.

Posted by eLarson 2005-12-12 10:36|| http://larsonian.blogspot.com]">[http://larsonian.blogspot.com] 2005-12-12 10:36|| Front Page Top

#11 I too find the overt campaign to have a completely secular society distasteful. There are plenty of examples of this on a daily basis. But câmon folksâ¦.Martin, nor Wallmart for that matter, hasnât denied that their ornaments are for Christmas. Instead they are intentionally vague in their descriptions. Thereâs an old saying in sales that if you truly appreciate everybody, you go out of your way not to offend anybody. There is a difference between sound marketing and PC run amuck. IMO, this article is more telling about the people that canât tell the difference.

Posted by DepotGuy 2005-12-12 10:36|| 2005-12-12 10:36|| Front Page Top

#12 Of course, the word "Holiday" comes from a combination of "Holy" and "day". Utilizing "holiday" does not actually result in de-religicizing the season, it simply refuses to name which particular holy day it is.

Posted by DoDo 2005-12-12 12:56|| 2005-12-12 12:56|| Front Page Top

#13 Well, I was going to say something here, but Oldspook stated my feelings so well, I'll just add: mega-dittoes.

Posted by Xbalanke 2005-12-12 13:42|| 2005-12-12 13:42|| Front Page Top

#14 In light of current events - I wish you all peace.

Posted by 2b 2005-12-12 17:28|| 2005-12-12 17:28|| Front Page Top

#15 He paid $240 for a wreath?

JC on a Crutch, what's the exchange rate with Canada? How much is that in ~~real~~ American money?

And don't they have any Wal-Marts up there?

Posted by Barbara Skolaut">Barbara Skolaut 2005-12-12 17:42|| http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/page/15bk1/Home_Page.html]">[http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/page/15bk1/Home_Page.html] 2005-12-12 17:42|| Front Page Top

#16 Unfortunately we do.

Posted by Rafael 2005-12-12 19:05|| 2005-12-12 19:05|| Front Page Top

#17 Why "unfortunately," Rafael?

Call them tacky if you want, Wal-Mart saves me (and scads of other people) a BUNDLE. I couldn't afford nearly as many clothes and other stuff if all I had for shopping were department stores.

(FYI, I mentioned Wal-Mart in my question because I just saw a large, well-made, fancy Victorian-style door wreath there for 40 bucks. Not my style, but very affordable if it were. Hell, even Michael's doesn't charge $240 for wreaths.)

Posted by Barbara Skolaut">Barbara Skolaut 2005-12-12 22:18|| http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/page/15bk1/Home_Page.html]">[http://ariellestjohndesigns.com/page/15bk1/Home_Page.html] 2005-12-12 22:18|| Front Page Top

#18 Seems like everything I buy at Wal-mart lasts for a very short time. I bought a pair of shoes...lasted for about 3 months. I spent slightly more in another place (not a high-end, snobby department store), and it's over a year now and going strong. So Wal-Mart tends not to save me money.

But to be fair, a friend of mine went to a Wal-Mart stateside, and reported that it is different than the Wal-Marts we have up here. You have more choices, and as far as the clothes go, better quality stuff. I'm not sure why that should be.

If your only alternative to department stores is Wal-Mart, then I can tell you that we have far more alternatives available up here. This place, for example. So there's a tradeoff...you get better quality, we get more alternative stores.

There's no picture of this $240 wreath. Maybe it's the Mother-of-all-Wreaths, fits on top of parliament building.

Posted by Rafael 2005-12-12 23:16|| 2005-12-12 23:16|| Front Page Top

#19 I'm not sure why that should be.

That is, I'm not sure why the difference exists. I thought all Wal-Marts were created equal. :-)

It's not hard to believe though. I've noticed American-made clothes are of higher quality. The cotton is much better. I've asked an expert on textiles, and he said there's a cotton type made in America that is the best in the world. You won't match the quality anywhere else. So maybe there's the reason.

Posted by Rafael 2005-12-12 23:32|| 2005-12-12 23:32|| Front Page Top

#20 I'm not sure I'd say that I would describe the US WalMart's clothes as "high quality", but for $9.95, who cares? I love WalMart. Open 24/7 - everything you need at a good price. I especially love it cause all the fussy puritan people tell me I shouldn't shop there - so it make me like shopping there more.

Posted by 2b 2005-12-13 00:02|| 2005-12-13 00:02|| Front Page Top

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