WHAT IS TRUTH?

TRUTH AND SURVIVAL

Please go to the Wall Street Journal and read this entire article. The author has clearly laid out the real problem in the economy today; there is no truth. Markets are manipulated by government, banks and businesses in collusion with each other. The free market has ceased to exist.

How can we know that the car we would like to buy or the house we want are fairly and truthfully priced? How can we know that there is a reasonable expectation of gain or loss when the prices are artificially established and the rules that govern the banks and economy as a whole are fluid and dependent on political whim, not economic truth? Why would you sign a contract if that contract can be changed by a bureaucrat working at the behest of his masters after the fact?

Every "fact" we read in see in the media is suspect, especially those economic numbers generated in Washington. Nothing is as it seems anymore. We must begin to detach ourselves from this system as much as possible. We must live and act in the truth or we will perish.

We've stepped away from truth and in so doing we have stepped away from God. We're living in the Devil's world now.

"An Economy of Liars

By GERALD P. O'DRISCOLL JR.

Free markets depend on truth telling. Prices must reflect the valuations of consumers; interest rates must be reliable guides to entrepreneurs allocating capital across time; and a firm's accounts must reflect the true value of the business. Rather than truth telling, we are becoming an economy of liars. The cause is straightforward: crony capitalism.

Thomas Carlyle, the 19th century Victorian essayist, unflatteringly described classical liberalism as "anarchy plus a constable." As a romanticist, Carlyle hated the system—but described it accurately.

Classical liberals, whose modern counterparts are libertarians and small-government conservatives, believed that the state's duties should be limited (1) to provide for the national defense; (2) to protect persons and property against force and fraud; and (3) to provide public goods that markets cannot. That conception of government and its duties was articulated by the Declaration of Independence and embodied in the U.S. Constitution.

...The idea that multiplying rules and statutes can protect consumers and investors is surely one of the great intellectual failures of the 20th century. Any static rule will be circumvented or manipulated to evade its application. Better than multiplying rules, financial accounting should be governed by the traditional principle that one has an affirmative duty to present the true condition fairly and accurately—not withstanding what any rule might otherwise allow. And financial institutions should have a duty of care to their customers. Lawyers tell me that would get us closer to the common law approach to fraud and bad dealing.

...In the U.S today, we are moving away from reliance on honest pricing. The federal government controls 90% of housing finance. Policies to encourage home ownership remain on the books, and more have been added. Fed policies of low interest rates result in capital being misallocated across time. Low interest rates particularly impact housing because a home is a pre-eminent long-lived asset whose value is enhanced by low interest rates.

Distorted prices and interest rates no longer serve as accurate indicators of the relative importance of goods. Crony capitalism ensures the special access of protected firms and industries to capital. Businesses that stumble in the process of doing what is politically favored are bailed out. That leads to moral hazard and more bailouts in the future. And those losing money may be enabled to hide it by accounting chicanery.

...Piling on more rules and statutes will not produce something different than it has in the past. Reliance on affirmative principles of truth-telling in accounting statements and a duty of care would be preferable. Deregulation is not some kind of libertarian mantra but an absolute necessity if we are to exit crony capitalism."
Wall Street journal

THE WINNOWING BEGINS

As the USCCB, the national Progressive bishops organization, continues to issue weak statements followed up with no action at all, local Bishops are beginning to take the lead in clearing the chaff from the wheat. This is subsidiarity in action.

I wonder; are the local Bishops receiving support and guidance from Rome? After Archbishop Burke spoke out against the CHA last week one has to consider the possibility of a Vatican end run around the USCCB and the Bishops that control it.

I believe that the Church is about to act. I think Rome has had enough with the dissent and abuse so prevalent here in America and around the world. I think we're going to start to see statements and actions in the near future that basically draw a line in the sand, telling the members of the faith, "You're either with us or against us." Those that refuse to accept and live the teachings of the Church will be asked to leave and if they refuse they will be forcibly removed.

And I say it's about time.

"At least two U.S. bishops have taken actions to indicate their disapproval of the support some women's religious communities and the Catholic Health Association gave to the final version of health care reform legislation. Bishop Lawrence E. Brandt of Greensburg, Pa., has directed diocesan offices, parishes and the diocesan newspaper not to promote the "vocation awareness program of any religious community" that was a signatory to a letter urging members of the House of Representatives to pass the health reform bill. In Providence, R.I., Bishop Thomas J. Tobin asked the Catholic Health Association to remove the diocesan-sponsored St. Joseph Health Services of Rhode Island from its membership rolls, saying that CHA leadership had "misled the public and caused serious scandal" by supporting health reform legislation that the bishops opposed. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was against the measure because its provisions on abortion funding and conscience protections were morally unacceptable. When the bill passed, the bishops reiterated their decades-long support for providing access to health care for all but expressed regret that health care reform came with the possibility of expanded abortion funding and urged vigilance that an executive order by President Barack Obama would, as promised, ensure no federal funds will be spent on abortion. Some Catholic groups reacted with enthusiasm to the passage of health reform and Obama's executive order, and others said the order would have no effect on abortion funding."
Georgia Bulletin

HERESY: CHICAGO STYLE

After publicly awarding Father Pfleger with a lifetime achievement award, Cardinal George has refused to discipline him for yet another heretical statement.

The Cardinal's lack of action in this instance stands as a silent endorsement of Pfleger's opinion.

If a Cardinal can tolerate heresy and the Vatican does nothing to correct the problem how are the faithful to understand this situation? Is this to be construed as a silent endorsement of women priests and a married priesthood by Rome? Has all doctrine become subject to the personal opinion of the leadership? Is everything open to discussion if it is spoken under the aegis of "personal opinion"?

What is truth?

HERESY
1 a : adherence to a religious opinion contrary to church dogma b : denial of a revealed truth by a baptized member of the Roman Catholic Church c : an opinion or doctrine contrary to church dogma
2 a : dissent or deviation from a dominant theory, opinion, or practice b : an opinion, doctrine, or practice contrary to the truth or to generally accepted beliefs or standards
Merriam-Webster

"After recently being honored with a lifetime achievement award by Cardinal Francis George, a Chicago priest stated in a homily this week that there “should be women priests,” bishops and cardinals and that priests in general should be allowed to marry.

Fr. Michael Pfleger was recently recognized at a ceremony celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office for Racial Justice. Cardinal Francis George issued comments during the April 7 event, saying that the priest is a good pastor who “acts out of love.”

In a homily on Divine Mercy Sunday earlier this week, Fr. Pfleger, who is pastor of Saint Sabina's Catholic Church, discussed how Christ's disciples abandoned him at the time of his crucifixion. The disciples, said Fr. Pfleger, “ran away when he most needed them. Only John at the foot of the Cross, and the women.”

“That's why there should be woman priests. That's why there should be married priests. That's why there should be women bishops and women cardinals.”

In a follow up statement on the Archdiocese of Chicago's website issued on Thursday, Fr. Pfleger addressed his April 11 homily saying that “while preaching a sermon on the power of fear, I was referring to the fear that paralyzed the apostles, locking them in a room, leaving only John and the women at the foot of the cross.”

“I stated that is why I believe women ought to be able to be ordained, as well as priests ought to be able to get married,” Fr. Pfleger commented. “While this is my personal opinion, I do respect and follow the Catholic Church teachings and I am sorry I failed to do this.”

EWTN contacted the Archdiocese of Chicago on Thursday in order to receive clarification on Fr. Pfleger's web statement. Though the priest apologized for failing to follow Church teaching which he claims to “respect,” he did not recant his position or alter his “personal opinion.” EWTN also asked if Cardinal Francis George has issued a statement in response to Fr. Pfleger's comments.

The archdiocese responded that Fr. Pfleger's “website statement stands by itself.”
EWTN News

ARCHBISHOP CHAPUT AND THE TRUTH

From Archbishop Chaput's Address to Houston Baptist University:

"I'm here as a Catholic Christian and an American citizen – in that order. Both of these identities are important. They don't need to conflict. They are not, however, the same thing. And they do not have the same weight. I love my country. I revere the genius of its founding documents and its public institutions. But no nation, not even the one I love, has a right to my allegiance, or my silence, in matters that belong to God or that undermine the dignity of the human persons He created."
Commentarius de Prognosticis

This is the most frightening thing a statist of either political stripe can hear. If a person gives his allegiance to the truth ahead of anyone or anything else they cannot be controlled. To the left this means that the person will resist the nanny state security blanket meant not to create security for the individual but to give power to the few. To the right this means that the person will resist the ultra nationalism used to justify endless war making designed to enslave and kill the many while creating massive profits for the few.

True freedom can only come from God. Everything else is a lie; a lie created by the father of lies, Satan. And to accept as truth that any country or ideology deserves your allegiance ahead of God himself makes you a child of the lie for: "You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and he stood not in the truth; because truth is not in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof." (John 8:44)

As I look at America today I see a country living a lie. We believe we can spend on every social program imaginable, regardless of whether we have the money or not, in search of "social justice". We believe we are justified in invading foreign countries, not because they have attacked us, but to bring democracy to the oppressed. We believe Sundays were made for shopping, not for church. We believe true happiness lies in technology and science, not in the truth itself.

We've lost our way because we've lost our goal; to know God, to love Him and to serve Him. Everything else descends from there. We've lost our way because we've lost our soul; we've replaced God with self.

IS CHRISTIE FOR REAL? ECONOMIC REALITY AND THE WAY OUT

From Gov. Christie's speech to the League of Municipalities:

"There's no time left. We have no room left to borrow. We have no room left to tax. So we merely have room left now, to do this. We are all reaching the edge of a cliff. And it reminds me a bit of that part of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid where the had a seminal decision to make. So what did they do? They held hands and they jumped off the cliff.

We have to hold hands at every level of government, state county, municipal, school board. We have to hold hands and jump off the cliff.

I firmly believe we will land and we will be fine. It does not mean it will not be a scary ride on the way down. And it does not mean there won't be moments of fear and moments of apprehension.

But for certain, the troops of the decades of overspending and overborrowing and overtaxing have gained on us. So the ruination of New Jersey's economy, and of the quality of life we want all our citizens to have, is certain if we do not take this course.

It's time for us to hold hands and jump off the cliff. It's time for us to do the difficult things that need to be done and to stop playing the petty politics of yesterday, of lying to the people telling them they do not have to pay for it because someone else will.

We are going to make the leap because that's what people elected me to do. We are going to make the leap because it is the responsible thing to do. We are going to make the leap and we are going to do it together because that is what leadership demands for us. That is what the responsibility of the offices we hold requires of us.

Forget about the next election. Forget about the next editorial in the newspaper, and forget about the next angry letter or phone call you are going to get from someone who wants something for nothing.

One thing is certain. The alternative will lead to certain defeat. And so it is time for us to show courage, and resolve. And we can do it because we are from New Jersey. And I have never, in all my travels around the country, met a group of tougher people than we all have the opportunity to lead."
Mish's Global Economic Analysis

USCCB UPDATE #9- DEMOCRAT OR REPUBLICAN?

This video addresses the key problem in the USCCB scandal; should the Church endorse any political party, whether explicitly or implicitly? The answer, in my opinion, is yes; but only in so far as the party agrees with the truth, not because of any political agenda. That is at the core of the problem with the American Bishops. Instead of holding the politicians to the fire and demanding they uphold the truth the Bishops have seemingly decided to change Church teaching to make it more pleasing to the political point of view they and their politician friends adhere to.

I've been reading a lot of Pope Benedict's speeches and papers lately and I gotta hand it to him; he does exactly what he should. He slavishly follows the truth, aggravating those on the left (Progressives, environmentalists, USCCB) and those on the right (Neo-cons, bankers, trad-caths) with his incredibly robust teachings regarding the Catholic faith. Instead of supporting any political agenda he challenges the politicians to support Christ.

Isn't that what the Church is supposed to do?

LOOKING FOR TRUTH IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES

"The Vatican's doctrinal crackdown on American nuns will only add fuel to a fire that now has young Catholics, like myself, fleeing the Church. The unilaterally conducted investigation reins in nuns in for such infractions as not wearing a religious habit or living outside of convents. Or, more to the point, promoting the ordination of women to the priesthood.

Yet it comes at a time when studies show that many young American Catholics--leery of a creed that is identified with scandal and dogmatism--are abandoning their religion in remarkable numbers.

According to a 2007 study conducted by Catholic University's Life Cycle Institute, just 15 percent of college-aged American Catholics attend mass regularly. The rest know Catholicism only from what the media tells them of it. The authors of the report, Bill D'Antonio and Vincent Bolduc, conclude, "Once a generation has established a pattern of Mass attendance, evidence suggests that it does not change much throughout their lives. If we follow the present pattern, the church of 2050 may well be a fraction of its present size."

To stem this tide, the Catholic Church needs to rebrand itself in the eyes of American youth."

Huffington Post

This article contains a statement of truth that leads the author to a completely wrong conclusion. The statement "the rest know Catholicism only from what the media tells them of it", which is true, leads the author to assert that the Church needs to rebrand itself, which is false. This is typical of the way most people think. Instead of searching to find if what the Church teaches is true and conforming themselves to it, they expect the Church to conform itself to their worldview. To "rebrand" so that it is more acceptable to the world. To cast aside truth in search of popularity.

If you don't accept what the Church teaches then leave. Find a church that agrees with you. I mean, how can any church be so authoritarian as to expect you to accept the idea that there may be a higher power than yourself?

And if you can't find that church? Why then, start your own. This is the basis of the Reformation and Protestantism has done quite well for itself. Accept no authority but your own; become your own Pope.

Until we learn to accept the fact that we may not know everything we will learn nothing. These children that want the Church to rebrand , to become more acceptable in their eyes will grow up someday. And hopefully, along with their physical maturation comes growth in understanding of their place in the world and how little they truly know and understand.

With age comes humility. Humility begets wisdom and wisdom drives the search for truth. Truth stands apart from popularity and comfort. Truth is. The sooner we accept that the sooner real understanding of our reason for existence can begin.

BISHOP PROTECTS HIS FLOCK - AGAINST ANOTHER BISHOP

From The New Oxford Review:

"We suspect that this is another indication of a more hopeful future for the American episcopacy — at the very least it belongs in the did-I-read-that-correctly category: Recently, two bishops in two separate dioceses prevented brother bishops from making public appearances on Catholic property in their dioceses. Yes, you read that correctly. A lone bishop banning a brother bishop is a rarity in this day and age. Frankly, it just isn't done. For two of them to take such similar courses of action is inconceivable.

Thomas Gumbleton, retired auxiliary bishop of Detroit, was slated to speak in the Diocese of Marquette (in Michigan's Upper Peninsula) at a conference sponsored by Marquette Citizens for Peace and Justice. According to episcopal protocol, when one bishop comes into another bishop's diocese to preach, celebrate the sacraments, or otherwise make a public appearance, he is expected to notify the local diocesan bishop — in effect, requesting his permission. It is necessary for the visiting bishop to be in harmony, so to speak, with the local bishop. In a perfect world, one bishop would not be contradicting the local shepherd.

Bishop Gumbleton didn't bother to contact Mar­quette's Bishop Alexander K. Sample about his anticipated visit. In fact, Bishop Sample only learned of Gumbleton's plan to be the keynote speaker at the Peace and Justice conference when the event was advertised. According to Bishop Sample, when he discovered the plan he sent a private note to Bishop Gumbleton in Detroit, informing him that His Excellency is unwelcome in the Diocese of Marquette — no, not because Bishop Sample doesn't believe in peace and justice, but because of Bishop Gum­bleton's longtime status as a prince of episcopal heterodoxy. Consecrated a bishop at the absurdly young age of 39 by liberal icon John Francis Cardinal Dearden, Gum­bleton is well known for his advocacy of women's ordination to the priesthood and as a figurehead for the "gay rights" movement in the Catholic Church."

Is this great, or what? It is so good to see a Bishop stand up publicly and protect his flock. I know this happens all the time in decisions large and small but we seldom see it. A Bishop publicly standing for the truth encourages others to do the same. It helps to see real leadership.

Good work, Bishop Sample and thanks. We really do appreciate it.