Bad Man Executed

Here is an excerpt from the Washington Post obituary:

By the end of his rule, human rights groups estimated, he had presided over the killing of at least 300,000 Iraqis and the torture and imprisonment of tens of thousands more.

"Record of Infamy Ends in Iraq," by William Branigan, 12/29/06, Washington Post, at this link


This end is no surprise: "For all who take the sword will perish by the sword" (Matthew 26:52b, ESB). What is surprising is that the bad man did not meet this end sooner and that the bad man even had a trial. It is also surprising that he did not meet his end by being torn to pieces by the populace he terrorized for decades. One N.Y. Times writer was amazed at the composure and calm of the bad man at his execution; the journalist viewed this composure as somehow dignified. Those of us who have met stone cold sociopaths in real life are not surprised by such composure, but, in fact, would expect it.

Virginia Catholic Alliance Live Blog: Jeff Caruso of the Virginia Catholic Conference

Shaun Kenney is hosting the first ever Virginia Catholic Alliance live blog at 10:00 am on Tuesday, 19 December. His guest will be Jeff Caruso, Executive Director of the Virginia Catholic Conference, and they are now taking questions. (click here)

The Conference, which represents the mutual public-policy interests of the Diocese of Richmond and the Diocese of Arlington, and engages in advocacy on respect-life, social-justice, and education issues, will be taking up the following items (among others) in the new legislative session:

Prohibiting state funding for embryonic stem cell research

Abortion clinic regulations

Increasing the minimum wage

Providing state assistance to parents whose children attend non-public schools for the purchase of their non-religious textbooks

Preventing minor's access to pornography. (Arlington's Bishop Loverde just wrote an excellent pastoral letter on the subject.)

The Virginia Catholic Conference's 2007 Legislative Agenda (PDF).

Welcome to Jay Anderson (Pro Ecclesia * Pro Familia * Pro Civitate)

Over the course of well, the past year, I couldn't help but notice Jay Anderson of Pro Ecclesia * Pro Familia * Pro Civitate blogging on practically the same topics. Noting our mutual interests on issues involving Catholics in political life (as well as an appreciation for St. Thomas More), it was inevitable that he would receive an invitation to join our little cooperative. So a hearty welcome to Jay Anderson!

(Jimmy Akin on) Ramesh Ponnuru On Pro-Life Issues

[Jimmy Akin] recently participated in a telephone Blogger Briefing put on by the Family Research Council (FRC). The event was organized by Joe Carter of Evangelical Outpost, who works at FRC. His idea is to help pro-life/socially conservative bloggers connect with figures in Washington (lawmakers, think tank types, commentators) who thus far haven't been as available to the pro-life part of the blogosphere.

For the initial installment of the briefing, the guest was Ramesh Ponnuru, senior editor and commentator for National Review and the author of the book The Party of Death.

The conversation began with Ramesh summarizing the recent history of abortion in American politics and what he thinks is likely to happen with it in the future. . . .READ MORE

See also Jimmy's follow-up post: "Ramesh Dusts Off His Crystal Ball"

Archbishop Chaput on Decline of "Religious Involvement in Democratic Society"

Speaking to a crowd of some 700 people gathered in Garden Grove, California, for the Orange County Catholic Prayer Breakfast, Denver’s Archbishop Charles Chaput OFM Cap. decried the growing exclusion of religion from the public square, and called for a shift in perspective regarding the place of religious believers in a democratic society.

The prayer breakfast, which was modeled on a similar event held in Washington D.C., is an effort to fulfill Pope John Paul II’s call for a “new Evangelization.” The event began with the praying of the Rosary and a Mass, followed by breakfast and Archbishop Chaput’s address.

The archbishop, who is well known for providing a strong Catholic voice on important moral issues such as abortion, homosexual marriage, immigration, and the death penalty, said that in recent years people in both major American political parties have wrongly tried to blame the conflicts in American public life on the active participation of religious believers. [. . .]

However, he pointed out, there are key differences between non-sectarian public institutions and a secularist ideology. No Christian, Chaput said, should want to live under the tyranny of a secularist ideology. “Whenever you hear loud fretting sparked by an irrational fear of an Established Church, somebody’s trying to force religious believers and communities out of the public discussion of issues.”

“Secularism isn’t really morally neutral. It’s actively destructive…It ignores the most basic questions of social purpose and personal meaning by writing them off as private idiosyncrasies,” the archbishop said.

Americans are, “losing the Founders’ perspective on the meaning of our shared public life,” Chaput added. “Certain beliefs have always held Americans together as a people.”

“We have wealth and power and free time and choices and toys -- but we no longer see clearly who we are,” he lamented. . . . READ MORE

Source: Denver Archbishop decries trend of discounting religious believers in political life Catholic News Agency. Dec. 7, 2006.

The full text of Archbishop Chaput's talk -- “Seeing Clearly” -- can be found at the Archdiocese of Denver website.