The war that nobody noticed

I was going to say the "peace lobby" hasn't noticed the US assassination war via drones, but actually some Catholic pacifist blogs have. Probably because Catholic pacifists put God first, not the left wing hatred of the US.

Belmont club has a long article on this type of warfare for your reading.

Today’s military operations have become increasingly similar to high-tech hit jobs. The President has a list and people go out and cross the names off that list, whether those names are on a ship at sea, in the North African desert, in a Pakistani urban stew or in a cave in Afghanistan. Some drone, some group of men with green faces, some bullet discharged from long range will make sure of that. But because it doesn’t look like “Vietnam” nobody will notice. The conflict can rage all around us,  but if it doesn’t affect the reception in our home entertainment centers, why should anyone care?

I am not a pacifist so theoretically it doesn't bother me. What bothers me is that this hit job is being done in stealth, and only noticed when Israel kills some bomb makers.

Drones here in the Philippines spy, but when they decided to take out one very bad guy in the Abus, they used a high tech missile in one of our old out of date planes to do it, because the left would have objected to it otherwise.

Of course, given the Chinese aggression against the weak Philippines, we now have to spend money that could better be used elsewhere buying a couple of Navy ships and jets. The alternative is to lose not only the Spratlys but the shoals near our coast where out fishermen traditionally  fish (and last week, some were rammed "accidentally" by a Chinese ship...considering they were anchored to a shoal at the time, one wonders why the ship got so close to the shoal that could sink them, just to send a warning to philippine fishermen)...

Madonna house

I brought the book Poustinia with me, by Catherine De Hueck Doherty.

But while googling to see if I could find any other similar books on line I found Father Robert Wild's book on her spirituality LINK

Journey to the Heart of Christ.

Painting a false picture of homophobia

TurtlebayAndBeyond blog reports that a noted homosexual activist in Uganda was killed...by a gay male prostitute.

and this seems to upset the European union activists, who tried to paint it as a murder due to homophobia by Christians....

so now they are upset that someone is bringing the victim's personal information into the discussion.

But TBAB does point out:

(P.P.S: with regard to Mr. Kato’s murderer, I am actually not sure whether he too was homosexual. Not all male prostitutes are. Maybe he, like so many African children, has simply been forced to sell his body for money in order to survive – to Mr. Kato and his likes. It is all the more absurd to treat Mr. Kato solely as a “victim”, when in actual fact he appears to also have been a perpetrator. I find it astonishing that the otherwise very active LGBT lobby in the European Parliament finds no words of condemnation for the sad phenomenon of male prostitution, and instead continues to praise Mr. Kato as a “human rights champion”….)

a lot of the anger in Asia and Africa against gay activism is because of sexual predators attacking our children...here in the Philippines there is not a lot of outcry against gays per se, but we are a major site for American sex travelers....the US embassador estimated 40 percent of US male tourists come her for the sex, although I suspect most of them come to hit our professional girls...  many of whom become prostitutes because they are poor, not as a "choice"....

truth in advertising

Truth in Advertising Father Z, using the bishops's reply, fisks a "catholic" group run with money from an atheist. This group has sent the press "talking point" memos, and I see these same memes in the comment sections. Unlike the Anchoress, I do think this is a big deal, because if the bishops lose, the unelected "health care panel" will decide abortion or terminal sedation for dementia need to be part of the health care package. when the Supreme court overturned the abortion laws of 50 states, there was no outcry, but it meant that I was failed in my OB rotation for refusing to do abortions (what saved me was LBJ's civil rights act). One of my friends was forced to cooperate because her religion was not officially against all abortions. However, the Muslim residents refused, and when they were threatened with being thrown out of the residency (and losing their visas) for not doing abortions, all the Muslim residents went to the head of the department and said: Fire one, fire us all. Since one third of the OB residents were Muslims, they were allowed not to do abortions. However, nurses who refused were pressured and required to go to reeducation classes, or be fired for "endangering patients". What is past is prologue...luckily although the "conscience clause" regulations have been removed when this president took office, that darn civil rights law still stands.

Free speech

Mrs. GayCaswell writes

On June 06, 2012 one of the most important  victories since that D- Day of 68 years ago occurred.  Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights code making alleged thoughts and  possible motives not actions potentially criminal was defeated in the House of Commons. The author of the private member’s bill was Conservative MP Brian Storseth. The vote was 153- 136. The Conservatives voted for it. The NDP voted against it. The Liberals that created the evil monster of section 13 which spawned a plague of thought police over the land played coy, kept silent and voted a firm wishy- washy. 
    When husband John read me Mark Steyn’s article in MacLean’s (June 25,,12) the fear and oppression of of living in Thought Police Saskatchewan was released in a flood of tears.
     I never saw Levant’s story on U- tube but I survived my own. On March 17, 2012  I was delivered papers that stated I was to go to jail,\

read the whole thing

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Related item: The fortnight of freedom in the US is important (but ignored for some reason by the MSM)

From First Things:

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput on launching the Fortnight for Freedom:

First, religious freedom is a cornerstone of the American experience. This is so obvious that once upon a time, nobody needed to say it. But times have changed. So it’s worth recalling that Madison, Adams, Washington, Hamilton, Franklin, Jefferson–in fact, nearly all the American founders–saw religious faith as vital to the life of a free people. Liberty and happiness grow organically out of virtue. And virtue needs grounding in religious faith.

Also today, Archbishop José H. Gomez on why the Fortnight for Freedom is happening now:

In recent years, many have observed that our American consensus on religious liberty, conscience protection, and religion’s public role has been eroding. There are many causes for this. The first is the reality of religious indifferentism or “practical atheism”—the fact that growing numbers of people in our society are living as if God doesn’t exist or doesn’t matter. There’s no reason to care about religious freedom if you don’t care about being religious.

The Fruits of Sibelius

I remember when the legislature of Kansas passed a law that made late term abortions illegal, and it was vetoed by Sibelius, who now runs the HHS and the Obamacare fiasco. Sibelius was told by her bishop that she could not receive communion after that veto. why was this law needed. Well, a small item in the Kansas paper shows you:

The State Board of Healing Arts ratified an administrative judge's earlier decision to strip Dr. Ann Kristin Neuhaus of her license. Neuhaus provided second opinions that Tiller needed under Kansas law to perform some late-term abortions at his Wichita clinic. Tiller, one of a few U.S. physicians known to perform abortions in the final weeks of pregnancy, was shot to death in May 2009 by a man professing strong anti-abortion views.

Yes, the "final weeks of pregnancy".

But you don't perform abortions in the final week of pregnancy, because the fetus is alive, and to kill it requires you to either perforate it's skull partly born (which is dangerous because the skull is harder than the cervix and uterus, so it could lead to perforation of the uterus or a torn cervix, which would result in the mom hemorrhaging or maybe even not being able to carry the next child to term)>

The law was unable to ban the procedure, but did require a "health of the mother" second opinion. The bimbo who lost her license essentially gave the women a check list and if they were suicidal, she okayed them for abortion.

But it is malpractice to just okay an abortion on a suicidal woman, because the post partum (and in these cases, it is post partum) hormone surge makes suicide more likely. So if they were suicidal, it is malpractice to just say: Ok you want to kill yourself? No treatment for the depression, let's remove the cause of your depression, and you'll be okay. But of course, it doesn't work like that.

Who is paying for the PC nuns bus tour

I ran into a couple of articles about them, mostly warm and fuzzy because they were protesting at Republican congressional offices.

One of the sisters said they planned to just travel around but they got "help" in Washington. They didn't name names, but I assumed it was from the left wing Catholic lobbying group NETWORK.

But LesFemmes bring up another problem: They aren't running around in an old VW van or used school bus:


Rockstar tour bus information here.

The rates are calculated by the hour. There will be a small destination charge to cover the time to and from the starting location. Rates for many locations can be found below. There is a 4 hour minimum rental everyday except Saturday evening, which is a 6 hour minimum rental, if the rental is not completed by 6pm. The rate includes driver and fuel. For events with long sit times, such as concerts or sporting events a reduced hourly charge may apply. Additional charges such as parking and tolls are not included in these rental rates. There is also a required 10% minimum gratuity for the driver. Do not be fooled by the party bus or limo bus pricing, this includes true Rockstar service.

Weekday Rate

$120 per hour

Weekend Rate (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)

$145 per hour

Sit Time Rate (Must meed qualifications below)

$60 per hour

To qualify for sit time rate the bus must be setting for at least 3hrs in a row without passengers.�� The rental must also meet full rate minimums.

Longer rentals and multiple bus rentals can be quoted. Please call or email us for further information.

Destination Charges

Chicago Downtown - $300

North and South Suburbs - $300

Western Suburbs - $200

Rockford Area & Quad Cities - $150

Other areas please call 800-792-0405

hypnosis, not magic

yeah. here is another link to how to join the group.
Child of a dream cd

The description is mass hypnosis...


Dr. Jeffrey Thompson, DC, B.F.A created this CD for the Louise Hay Conference, "Visions of the Future in Healing" in 1991, with Depak Chopra, Bernie Seigel, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Bru Joy, Susan Jeffers and others. This was one of Dr. Thompson's many group "Mind-Link" events in which over 3,000 people were sitting in the dark with everyone's brainwaves entrained together to this soundtrack. An extraordinary event was created and experienced by all to his/her capacity. This is an awesome soundtrack for deepest relaxation. It combines state of the art 3-D sound processing, Dr. Thompson's own "Primordial Sounds" and his own technique of brainwave entrainment pulses in every sound you hear on the CD.

This is another landmark recording, a sound track with music, the likes of which you have never heard before...

Egg of time cd



[FLAC]

Two years in the making, this CD was Dr. Jeffrey Thompson, DC, B.F.A.'s second CD. Parts of the music for this CD were composed for the Louise Hay Conference, "Healing in the 90's," with Depak Chopra, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Dolores Krieger, and others. This was one of Dr Thompson's many group "Mind-Link" events in which over 3,000 people were sitting in the dark with everyone's brainwaves entrained together to this soundtrack. An extraordinary event! There are multiple levels of sound frequency patterns built into the sounds and music for resonating consciousness into deep states of relaxation. Many of these frequencies are processed using the stereo field extensively. Some of the sounds are created through Dr. Thompson's special process called "Primordial Processing". This process intricately weaves sounds into the "fabric" of the music. These sounds include: human heartbeat, dolphin sounds, wind, water, Tibetan bowls, bells, gongs and Japanese flute.

This CD has continued to rise in popularity since it was produced in 1989. Like no music you have ever encountered before, it is a timeless classic.

I have no problem with music as relaxation, but I'm just an old cynic at these mass inititions, be it in the "prayer of quiet" or with the charismatics.

it is a variation of self hypnosis, and all people have a different capacity for this.
but those with a "high" capacity also have a high capacity to be influenced by the one inducing the state.

another documentary here.

nutty nuns take two

more links to books Barbara recommends.

Yes, substitute the new age Christconsciousness for the poor man of Nazaerth

More new age links to the PC nuns gurus

So if you want to hear their guru Barbara Marx Hubbard, the torrent link is LINK

for the 2011 coast to coast am program

Hours 3 & 4 - Visionary, social pioneer and author Barbara Marx Hubbard discussed the idea of conscious evolution, and how humankind must evolve or face extinction.

She suggested that evolution can occur by choice rather chance, and while many are focused on doom & gloom 2012 scenarios, she presented a hopeful vision of our future. "I think we're seeing the emergence of a universal species...we're going to have extended life, extended intelligence, extended contact throughout the universe, that we'll be freed up from repetitive labor...and the species itself will evolve into a co-created humanity... But if we don't, if we stay self-centered, separate, competitive, overpopulating and polluting, we won't make it," she stated.

the coast to coast am website states:

 
Barbara Marx Hubbard, President of the Foundation for Conscious Evolution, is an evolutionary educator, author of five books, speaker and social innovator. She is producing a new film series Humanity Ascending: A New Way through Together. The first of the series Our Story is now being viewed throughout the world. The second is entitled: Visions of a Universal Humanity, and features major visionary scientists, biologists, psychologists and spiritual leaders, weaving together a picture of the next stage of human evolution.
Her on-line education program Gateway to Conscious Evolution (www.evolve.org) is reaching thousands world wide. In 1984 her name was placed in nomination for the vice Presidency of the United States on the Democratic ticket, advocating an Office for the Future and a "Peace Room" to scan for, map, connect, and communicate what is working in the world. She is now working on "An Evolutionary Synthesis," A New World View Equal to our Spiritual, Social and Scientific/technological Capacities.

It says a lot to see that she got to talk to the Democratic national convention...and I don't think it is good, since her background includes working with the Soviets for peace.



DVDHERE.

Our story is seen through evolutionary eyes as the unfoldment of a fourteen billion year journey of transformation, now pressing us forward to give birth within ourselves to a universal human and a universal humanity capable of coevolving with nature and cocreating with spirit. Our storyteller, Barbara Marx Hubbard, provides the unique perspective of viewing our history through what she terms as "evolutionary eyes" as the unfoldment of a fourteen billion year journey of transformation that is now pressing us forward to give birth to a new, never before seen, universal humanity. This compelling vision of hope sees us at an evolutionary edge where the old world is dying and the new world is being born. Share this powerful message of hope with family and friends!

this is bad enough, but she is also part of the transhumanist crowd.
Why do I say this is dangerous? Because the transhumanist crowd are technocrats and usually agnostics, but honest agnostics. Mix their ability to change man into her "evolutionary higher power" and you get a very dangerous brew of religious overtones to essentially a scientific message.
Again, from C2C: 7-19-07

Five guests participated in a roundtable discussion about transhumanism, a movement that looks ahead to augmentation of human capabilities. Author James Gardner, who participated in the entire conversation, argued that we are in the midst of evolution, and the current state of humanity is not a final product. Change is occurring at such an exponential rate, he said, that it is changing the nature of change itself.

Technological change is occurring faster than biological change and humans are running outdated software in their bodies, commented futurist Ray Kurzweil (who appeared during hours 2 & 3). Developments in genetics, nanotechnology and AI are coming at such a rapid rate that within forty years, humans won't be able to keep up unless they merge with the technology, he opined. A diagram of a "trans-post-human" is posted here.

Educator Barbara Marx Hubbard, who participated during the third hour, noted that we're experiencing the evolution of evolution itself, and that for the first time, humans are choosing to consciously evolve. Nanotech expert Philippe Van Nedervelde (part of the 4th hour) warned of "asymmetric destructive capabilities" that allow small groups to kill millions. To counteract this possibility, he suggested airborne nanotech surveillance systems that could constantly monitor environments using "smart dust."


All of the guests will be presenting at TransVision 2007, taking place July 23-25th in Chicago. Conference chairman Charlie Kam (appearing in the second hour) said efforts were made this year to book such guests as William Shatner and Ed Begley Jr. to widen the appeal of the gathering.

Kurzweil is mainly in favor of making man combine with computers, and have spare parts...theoreticlly, a man could live forever this way.

But then you have this article by Michael Zimmerman:

Abstract: Ray Kurzweil and others have posited that the confluence of nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, robotics, and genetic engineering will soon produce posthuman beings that will far surpass us in power and intelligence. Just as black holes constitute a “singularity” from which no information can escape, posthumans will constitute a “singularity:” whose aims and capacities lie beyond our ken.

I argue that technological posthumanists, whether wittingly or unwittingly, draw upon the long-standing Christian discourse of “theosis,” according to which humans are capable of being God or god-like.

From St. Paul and Luther to Hegel and Kurzweil, the idea of human self-deification plays a prominent role. Hegel in particular emphasizes that God becomes wholly actualized only in the process by which humanity achieves absolute consciousness.

Kurzweil agrees that God becomes fully actual only through historical processes that illuminate and thus transform the entire universe. The difference is that for Kurzweil and many other posthumanists, our offspring—the posthumans—will carry out this extraordinary process. What will happen to Home sapiens in the meantime is a daunting question.

ah yes, what will happen to all of us ordinary folks? Anyone?

toward the end, Zimmerman goes on from discussing man becoming godlike using techology into the idea that

In the next section, we will see that trans-and posthumanism continue to draw upon the idea of human self-divinization, in a new guise.

Part Three: The Singularity as God’s Self-Actualization?...

 Post-human divinity will take charge of its own destiny and “spiritualize” everything in the universe, including supposedly “dumb” matter/energy. Posthumanists often regard humans as relay runners about to pass the baton to oncoming Others, who in turn will race toward a summit that surpasses all ordinary human understanding.

A lot of this is the reaction to the "chance" view of science, that everything is chance and we are nothing.

Until recently most twentieth century scientists agreed with the nihilistic views of Jacques Monod and Stephen Gould, according to whom the universe is meaningless, life is accidental, and cosmic development absent. Davies and a number of other contemporary scientists, however, now conclude not only that cosmic development (from atoms to life) has occurred, but also that the universe is somehow “rigged” in favor of life and even of self-conscious life. Discovery of life elsewhere would be proof of cosmic purposiveness: “Only if there is more to it than chance, if nature has an ingeniously built-in bias toward life and mind, would we expect to see anything like the developmental thrust that has occurred on Earth repeated on other planets.”[49]

But of course, they won't allow the God of Israel to be part of this, but their own cosmic idea of supermen as god:

According to posthumanists, humankind cannot evolve in the ways required to reconstruct the universe, because the organic body is too frail for the task. Just as humankind has exterminated many species, quite possibly including other higher primates, in the process of achieving planetary dominance, post-humans may exterminate humankind to achieve galactic and even cosmic dominance, all in the quest for total self-consciousness of a sort that we are incapable of imagining. Impending global climate change—along with a number of other “existential” threats—may exterminate humankind, thereby destroying what may be the only opportunity in cosmic history for self-conscious beings to move toward the Singularity.[50] The stakes would seem to be very high indeed. Considering themselves to be serving a higher cosmic purpose, some trans- and posthumanists might feel justified in taking whatever steps are necessary to “download” consciousness into post-biological modes that can survive bio-disaster. [51] Would many an innocent flower, we might ask here, have to be trampled for Geist to take the leap to immortal superconsciousness?...

Critics who regard transhumanism as the latest reprise of eugenics cite as evidence how frequently transhumanists cite the proclamation of Nietzsche’s Zarathustra, that that “man” is something that must be overcome. Nietzsche’s own discourses on racial breeding, as well as his idea of the Overman, made aspects of his work appealing to Nazi visions of a “master race”, even though Nietzsche himself might have disagreed with Nazi ideology, had he lived long enough to confront it. Transhumanists insist, however, that their goals are very different from government-sponsored eugenics, which wrongly sought to impose—without consent—major genetic changes on whole populations. As libertarians, transhumanists calls for private, non-governmental, voluntary enhancements of individuals.[60] Despite such emphasis on individual enhancement, however, critics envision the likely return of a more collectivist eugenics program, which justifies questionable practices because they serve a higher goal than individual well-being.

Feeling paranoid yet?

Nutty nuns

-----------------------------------------------
The Bishops have called for 14 days of prayer for religious freedom to protest the very real threat posed by Obamacare regulations, but all the press is being given to 22 "nuns on a bus" who are protesting evil Republicans.

The tour was organized by Network, a Washington-based Catholic social justice group

No, this is not a coincidence.
the left has long ago tried to coopt the social justice wing of the church to push their agenda, but now their patsies are putting the left before the church.

But what I find more frightening is the nuns' embrace of a bimbo who is promoting the idea that her followers will be evolving to a higher power next December...

Think I am exaggerating on how this bimbo is twisting the nun's psyches?
LINK

Teilhard de Chardin believed that in the evolution of human consciousness lies our hope for the future. For my part, perhaps I might need to do what Joseph Campbell suggests, “We must be willing to let go of the life we planned, so as to accept the life that is waiting for us.” To quote Maureen McCormack, SL, “Awakening to an evolutionary relationship to life may be ‘the life that is waiting for us.’” It could be the change that changes everything. 

Yes, let's all praise the "finder" of the Piltdown man and love of the idea of evolution, whatever that means (uh, does the phrase "survival of the fittest come to mind, sister?)  Teilhard's followers falsely say he was "silenced" for backing evolution (a theory that goes back to St Augustine) but he was silenced for his philosophy that God made man to evolve to the Omega point, a theory that had no need for Jesus, and that suggests the supermen/smart folks are those loved the most by God.

Cohen's article 
A History of Evolutionary Spirituality

George Hegel, Sri Aurobindo, Teilhard de Chardin, Ken Wilber, and more...

Spiritual experiences can awaken you to a higher perspective, but how do you live a truly awakened life?
links the non scientific ideas of Teilhard's ideas, equating physical evolution with spiritual evolution and then into eastern mysticism...and how these ideas reject both traditional religion and scientific thinking.

Hmmm...didn't we have a go with Hegel's ideas awhile back? No, he wasn't a racist because lots of folks agreed with him back then...





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More rumors that they found the "god particle". Maybe this time they're right.
But the same new age bimbos who support Barbara's magical miracle trip think that this discovery would undermine religion.
 ..
Hmmm...is Michale Kako part of this group, or did that website simply coopt his name without his knowing Hubbard's superman ideas for the future?
---------------------------

yes, this is disjointed, but it is a "first draft" of trying to put together an article

Essentially, the new age thinkers admit those of us who won't evolve will be eliminated, but it's harder to find where they say these things, just as it's hard to find green types who say the same thing. True, they don't represent the mainstream followers, but then most Nazis party members only joined to get a job or because they backed the economic policies of the party, while most docs were sympathetic to their eugenics ideas.

a question;

Here is a typical story: (boston globe)
The last two years have seen a remarkable number of sanctions against American nuns, who numbered 56,000 in 2011, down from nearly 180,000 in 1965....


since the average age of the PC sister's leadership conference orders is 72, I have two questions:

One: Have these leaders asked their members if they agree with the leadership?

After all, the Catholic Health association didn't agree with their pc nun on Obamacare.

Two; Are we paying the salaries of these pc nuns by giving money to the retirement program for aged sisters?

(Arch)dioceses submit donations to the National Religious Retirement Office, an organization that applies approximately 93 cents of every dollar donated to financial distributions that assist with the costs of elder care at religious institutes. Roughly seven percent of donations are used for administration, education, and the national annual appeal.

A sister from Texas writes:

"As times goes by, and as the number of our older sisters increase, so do the needs."

ratio of wage-earning to retired religious projected for 2019.

this would look a lot worse if it was done for only the orders of the PC nuns
from Wikipedia: 

The membership of the congregations in the LCWR has been declining rapidly in recent years, both through a lack of any new members in most member congregations and the increasing age of the women that remain. According to the Study on Recent Vocations, the average median age of women in LCWR institutes is 74. Among those who have entered in the past 15 years, 56 percent are over 30.^[5] For these reasons, the membership of the congregations in the LCWR declined from 60,642 in 2007, to 46,451 in 2011, to an estimated 43,664 in 2012.[

looks pretty grim, doesn't it?

unless you are aware of the "other" sisters, who also have a group known as the CMSWR

also from Wikipedia:

According to the 2009 Study on Recent Vocations by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, the average median age of nuns and sisters in CMSWR institutes was 60, compared with 74 for those in LCWR; among those joining CMSWR institutes only 15% were over 40, compared with 56% for LCWR institutes; 43% of the CMSWR institutes had at least 5 novices, compared with 9% of the LCWR institutes.^[5][6]

the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. It includes over 1500 women leaders representing over 80% of the 57,000 women religious in the United States

yet the leadership group sounds more like a game of musical chairs than a group with democratic origins:

Sr. Pat Farrell, a vice president of the Sisters of St. Francis of Dubuque, Iowa, and LCWR’s president, said in an interview before last year’s assembly that it was time for women religious to re-examine their calling.
“We are fewer,” Farrell told NCR in August 2011. “It’s time to loosen our perceptions of who we are and listen attentively to what God is calling us to do now.”
Also expected at this year’s LCWR assembly is an annual transition of the group’s top leaders -- their president-elect, president and past-president -- who govern the LCWR collaboratively with the group’s secretary, treasurer and executive director.
In LCWR’s model, a president-elect is elected by the group’s membership at each year’s assembly. Following a year in the position, she automatically succeeds to the presidency, and then to the position of past-president the following year.

maybe that lack of fresh leadership is part of the problem...

To consider those concerns, the 2011 assembly saw the group not focusing on routine matters of administration or finance but rather spending long periods of their time together in silence to contemplate where U.S. religious life may be moving.
Last year’s assembly also saw release of a report on the decline in numbers of women religious in the U.S. with membership in the LCWR, which seemed to indicate the decrease has been fairly rapid in the last few years, with numbers dropping from 60,642 sisters in 2007 to 46,451 in 2011.
At that time, LCWR projected there to be a loss of another 2,787 sisters from the group in 2012...

and then there is this question:

Yet, these IHMs still collect about a quarter of a million dollars a year from the Retirement Fund for Religious.
http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/1299/The_Church_and_the_Sisters_...
http://www.earthspiritrising.org/cos

Many laity wonder why they are asked to contribute every year to the collection of the National Religious Retirement Office to help care for retired religious when some of the orders that receive that money spend their funds on activities like last year’s “Earth Spirit Rising” conference that featured self-proclaimed pagan and witch Starhawk.
Also on the financial front, many laity wonder why many orders still beg for
contributions to support their elderly, but seem to find the money to invest in the latest earth-friendly trends?
For example, the Immaculate Heart of Mary Sisters of Monroe, Michigan accomplished a 56 million dollar “green” renovation of their motherhouse that included building one of the country’s largest geothermal fields consisting of 232 bore holes 450 feet deep to tap into the earth’s heat to warm their buildings.
Yet, these IHMs still collect about a quarter of a million dollars a year from the Retirement Fund for Religious.
http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/1299/The_Church_and_the_Sisters_...
http://www.earthspiritrising.org/cosponsors.html
www.retiredreligious.org
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/23671932#23759490

ponsors.html

Yet the CMSWR group says it includes ten thousand sisters, whose average age is much lower.

yet that groups includes dying orders too:

Still, CMSWR communities are struggling in many cases, and this should not be ignored. There are a few communities that are bursting at the seams, but it should be noted that this is not the norm.
There are indeed young women with calls to religious life. I think there are many LCWR communities that do not believe this is the case and try to ignore communities that are successful–write them off as it were. Some have said the the CARA study gave the wrong impression. A National Catholic Reporter article says there is a “slight tilting in the direction of traditional groups” (CARA Study Given Wrong Twist). I don’t think that is the case either. The truth lies in the middle. Traditional groups are doing better, and a few much better. The return of women’s religious vocations is happening, but it is, for the most part, gradual.

and this might point to the crux of the problem for all the aging orders:

Now with the average age of women in LCWR communities to be 74 in 2009 (and probably higher now), it seems a bit late in the game to ask for reform, but at the same time, the tremendously negative attitudes toward the Vatican (which were already very negative without the call for reform) among such communities should also not be ignored. Have you ever met a young woman that wanted to spend her life with a group of grumpy old women that hate the Church (or at least the leaders of said Church) that produced the community in the first place? There aren’t many. The “less than 1% under 40″ makes perfect sense.

Time line for a church takeover

Get Religion notes that usually the Episcopal church in the US is reported as only having recent problems with the gay agenda. So they print a time line of how the takeover actually began years ago.

Well, it’s hard not to start the gay-rights-war Episcopal Church timeline in 1979 — during the General Convention held in Denver. The conservatives won that battle in the headlines, with the passage of a traditional statement of Christian sexual ethics. However, the liberals got organized and their ranks started growing. One of the signers of a liberal 1979 liberal manifesto on the issue — the Rt. Rev. Edmond Browning — would end up being elected as the church’s presiding bishop only a few years later.
After 1979, it only took a decade for the ordination of gay and lesbian priests to begin, during the “local option” era. Here are some dates mentioned in previous GetReligion posts.

1989 — Bishop John Spong, Diocese of Newark, publicly ordains first non-celibate, openly-partnered, homosexual.
1991 — Bishop Walter Righter, Diocese of Washington, D.C., ordains a non-celibate homosexual.
1994 — Bishop Spong drafted the Koinonia Statement defining homosexuality as morally neutral and affirming support for the ordination of homosexuals in faithful sexual relationships (signed by 90 bishops and 144 deputies). Spong publishes his 12 Theses, laying out an approach to faith without a transcendent, personal deity.
1996 — Both counts of heresy against Bishop Righter dismissed in an ecclesiastical court, which decides that there is “no clear doctrine” in the Episcopal Church relevant to the ordination of those sexually active outside of marriage.
1998 — The bishops at the global Lambeth Conference uphold traditional teachings on marriage and human sexuality. Then, 65 ECUSA bishops sign a pastoral statement addressed to lesbian and gay Anglicans.
2000 — Archbishops Emmanuel Kolini ( Province of Rwanda) and Moses Tay ( Province of South East Asia) consecrate Father Chuck Murphy and Father John Rodgers as missionary bishops to the U.S.

In many ways, the event that kicked the entire controversy into overdrive was the dismissal of the charges against Bishop Righter in 1996. At that point, the issue was pretty much settled for anyone with eyes to see what was happening. Thus, the Global South revolt against the Episcopal Church openly began in 2000.
Is 1996 “recent”? Is 2000 “recent”?
Once again, it is easy for reporters to simply note that the conflict has been raging for a quarter of a century, or thereabouts, and that there was a major escalation in the dispute in 2003, with the consecration of the openly gay and non-celibate Bishop V. Gene Robinson in New Hampshire. Now that you think of it, is 2003 “recent”?

FatherZ reports that a left wing group sends a talking point memo to the press on how to question the Catholic bishops who refuse to compromise principles for the Obamacare regulations.

he has links to the PDF and names names of who the press should call to "refute" the bishops. Best part of the post:

Not to be outdone, Gehring presses his lackeys to victimize the victim, beckoning them to ask the bishops—all of whom refuse to prostitute their principles—“Are you willing to sacrifice Catholic charities, colleges and hospitals if you don’t get your way on the contraceptive mandate?”  ["But, for Wales?"]

the "Wales" quote comes from here. but it would be a better ask the "professors" listed on the talking point memo, why they they insist their opinion on what the church should teach is what the church actually teaches, when that's not true...


Catholic World report has a long summary of why early Christians opposed the idea of contraception and abortion  and adds:

With the HHS mandate, the secular state is moving from, “Christians, do what you like among yourselves, but don’t impose your moral views on us,” to, “Christians, you must now do what we like—or else.”

 

 This comes at a time, of course, when the press is shocked, shocked to discover that the Mafia has been laundering money through the Vatican bank (the Mafia is also laundering money through most Italian banks and many businesses, and has been doing so for quite awhile, but never mind: As the Obama folks say, never let the truth stand in the way of a good story).

The church is standing in the way of the NWO, and it must be destroyed.

This is probably why the press is lauding those rebellious new age but aging sisters who refuse to be catholic and who welcome a talk from a bimbo who has been on the conspiracy radio show C2CAM to tell how she and her followers are going to "evolve" to a higher power next december.

Uh, meditation doesn't change your DNA (That takes a materialistic transhumanist to do). But never mind. The sisters are having her be their keynote speaker.

And at the same time, we see various European priests rebelling on the front pages of their papers.

And of course, the church in Ireland is trying to recover from a homosexual scandal that abused 400 or fewer kids over 50 years (out of how many thousands cared for? and was the rate of abuse any higher than british public schools or even US prep schools/ probably not).

This is a full court press on the church.

The answer/ Pray...

And then there is the horror of China's forced abortions.

This is the new age guru who the PC sisters say will give a talk to them at their next meeting.
youtube link

In the latter half, visionary, social pioneer and author Barbara Marx Hubbard discussed the idea of conscious evolution, and how humankind must evolve or face extinction. She suggested that evolution can occur by choice rather chance, and while many are focused on doom & gloom 2012 scenarios, she presented a hopeful vision of our future. "I think we're seeing the emergence of a universal species...we're going to have extended life, extended intelligence, extended contact throughout the universe, that we'll be freed up from repetitive labor...and the species itself will evolve into a co-created humanity... But if we don't, if we stay self-centered, separate, competitive, overpopulating and polluting, we won't make it," she stated.

We're seeing a breakthrough of more people becoming conscious of god, super-nature, spirit, or tendency of higher order-- a transcending impulse of higher evolution, she continued. Hubbard, now 81, shared some of the fascinating paths in her life, how she turned from a housewife into a "futurist," her relationship with Buckminster Fuller, and details of her run for Vice President in 1984 (Neale Donald Walsch recently penned a biography of Hubbard called The Mother of Invention).

if you watch it, remember to sprinkle Holy water on your speakers so the evil spirits emanating from her don't attack you.

And if you are a sceptic, a logical person, or an athiest, just say a quick prayer to Christopher Hitchens before watching.

Catholic demonstrations

over 1000 were at the Detroit protest

The rally, organized by Catholic leaders, was one of 13 in cities across Michigan and more than 140 others across the U.S.

And this answer to an anti Catholic bigot points out the court cases that back churches:

'll try to put this delicately: you are wrong ...
The U.S. Supreme Court stated in Lemon v. Kurtzman in 1971 that non-taxation of churches is undergirded by “more than 200 years of virtually universal practice imbedded in our colonial experience and continuing into the present.”
Every State and the District of Columbia provide for tax exemptions for religious institutions, and the history of such exemptions goes back to the time of our establishment as a polity.
In Walz v. Tax Commission, the Supreme Court noted that the church’s “uninterrupted freedom from taxation” has “operated affirmatively to help guarantee the free exercise of all forms of religious belief.” The much misunderstood “separation between church and state” is in truth designed to restrict the sovereignty of each over the other. That is, it is designed to achieve a position for each that is neither master nor servant of the other. Exemption from income taxation is essential for respect of the church as a separate sovereign entity.
The fact that the Constitution mandates a tax exemption for churches is one of the best reasons why churches are not taxed.In our constitutional structure, states may not tax each other, and they may not tax property of the federal government. The District of Columbia does not tax the property owned by foreign governments, and New York does not tax the property owned by the United Nations.
So, too, churches in America are not subservient to the government. The First Amendment to the Constitution requires that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The Constitution prevents the government from wielding its authority to control churches through taxation. Churches in this way differ from all other businesses and organizations. They are a unique institution whose existence is not derived from government authority, nor even from governmental acknowledgment. They precede the birth of our nation and will remain long after its death.
Although government can aid or support virtually all types of social or educational institutions which have a public purpose with the use of tax money, the Supreme Court stated in 1948 that “no tax in any amount, large or small, can be levied to support any religious activities or institutions.”

A video to make you think

Be afraid, be very afraid

sometimes a family decides or goes along with the wish to remove unwanted extraordinary treatment that is prolonging the dying process.

Sometimes, they allow organs to be removed after that person dies.

So now it is being proposed to remove the organs first and then remove the treatment

Ah, but what if the patient doesn't die?

maybe you just him along.

In this case, the guy just wouldn't die so that his organs could be removed, so the doc hurried him along....in the case of agreeing to pre death organ donation, presumably they would give the fatal overdose after the surgery just to be sure.

In a pretrial hearing last week, Dr. Laura Lubarsky, a critical-care specialist, testified she would not have ordered morphine or the sedative Ativan as Roozrokh allegedly did. She said she was called into the operating room to monitor Navarro after he was taken off life support and to pronounce him dead.....
Lubarsky told the court she heard Roozrokh order a nurse to give Navarro more "candy," meaning additional drugs.
Prosecutors have charged Roozrokh with three felony counts, including one charge of "dependent adult abuse" for allegedly administering excessive amounts of a drug cocktail that included morphine and Ativan, both of which are used to comfort dying patients. Roozrokh is also accused of injecting Betadine, a topical antiseptic, into Navarro's feeding tube.

if this is allowed, the next step is to put all brain damaged people on feeding tubes, then remove the tubes and then allow the organs to be removed before they die.

Can you say "COMA" people?

fighting the good fight

GayCaswell explains that one reason Candians chose not to join the US was that they were allowed to keep their religion and it's institutions. But now the gov't is trying to force the Catholic schools to include the gay agenda LINK

    A vile editorial in THE NATIONAL POST makes it very clear that the intention of the McGuinty Bullies is to destroy Catholic schools and attack the religious and parental rights of everybody. He/she says why should the Catholics get funding when they don’t like the name “ gay” on clubs ?  The real question is why should there be ANY mandatory student- led clubs in school hours? These clubs are not student created or led or even McGuinty created. They began in Boston and New Jersey by radical homosexuals who wanted to recruit and use children.
    If  schools would be allowed to return to places of education, children and adults could spend time studying literature that could teach them many things including the proper meaning of the word gay, gaily, and the commonality of the names such as Gaylord, Gay etc.

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Dr.E at PersianParadox has a discussion of the women's studies program in Iran.

The non-governmental Institute for Women's Studies and Research , of which I have been a founding and trustees member, had an instrumental role in proposing the degree and preparing its curriculum in 1996. I was part of that effort and we had proposed at least three branches for the degree program, including women's rights in Islam, family studies, social roles of women.

After approval in 1998, many students studied in this field during the past decade . Recently, during a major review and restructuring of Human Sciences in Iran, which has been conducted with a certain ideological and political mentality, the Women's Studies degree has been changed to Women's Rights in Islam, thereby limiting the focus of the studies and courses provided.

Since the initial attempt had been to delete the degree program in total , this seems to be a compromise to keep the program, but in a controlled manner that would subside the worries of certain conservative groups about the so called Feminist ideology that might permeate and poison such courses. The reality is that an academic approach should enable familiarity with all lines of thought in a particular field, for only after such an approach would it be possible to make scholarly and unbiased comparisons and appraisals of each school of thought.

one wishes that the one sided anti religious anti men marxist women's studies programs in the US would have a similar scholarly, broad, and unbiased field of study.
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GetReligion discusses the new "women's page" in the vatican newspaper.

The women’s page will also promote a modern Catholic feminism based upon the principle of complementarity — not interchangeability — of men and women.

Feminism was and is many things. First, it seeks recognition for the role of women, which often - and precisely in the Church - is undervalued and ignored. But there is a difference between feminism that seeks equality by flattening the distinction between women and men, thereby erasing women’s difference from men … Too often this difference has been synonymous with inequality, but we will defend it and advance a new feminism.

One not centered solely around careers, “sexual freedom, contraception and abortion,” she said.

one waits to see if this will work. I suspect it won't