Dennet begins his talk presenting some scenerios about the future of religion. He looks at religion from highly optimistic point of view. Dennett suggests that religion is the source of great art, moral teamwork etc. In other words, it's not so easy to banish the effects of religion on culture and tradition. Later he states that we are not lovers of God but lovers of truth and introduces Ockham's broom, the idea that sweeps inconvenient facts under the carpet.
"Showing greater courage and intellectual chutzpah than I have ever aspired to, she deploys her memetic forces in a brave--do not think foolhardy until you have read it--assault on the deepest questions of all: What is a self? What am I? Where am I? ... Any theory deserves to be given its best shot, and that is what Susan Blackmore has given the theory of the meme. " -- Richard Dawkins
Over a decade ago, Richard Dawkins, who contributes a foreword to this book, coined the term "meme" for a unit of culture that is transmitted via imitation and naturally "selected" by popularity or longevity. Dawkins used memes to show that the theory known as Universal Darwinism, according to which "all life evolves by the differential survival of replicating entities," applies to more than just genes. Now, building on his ideas, psychologist Blackmore contends that memes can account for many forms of human behavior that do not obviously serve the "selfish gene." For example, a possible gene-meme co-evolution among early humans could have selected for true altruism among humans: people who help others (whether or not they are related) can influence them and thus spread their memes. Meme transmission would also explain some thorny problems in sociobiology. From a gene's point of view, celibacy, birth control and adoption are horrible mistakes. From a meme's point of view, they are a gold mine. Few or no children free up the meme-carrier to devote more energy to horizontal transmission to non-relatives (monks and nuns the world over figured that out long ago), something the gene is incapable of. With adoption, memes can even co-opt vertical transmission between generations. Blackmore posits that, in modern culture, meme replication has almost completely overwhelmed the glacially slow gene replication. Well written and personable, this provocative book makes a cogentAif not wholly persuasiveAcase for the concept of memes and for the importance of their effects on human culture. Publishers Weekly
I remember when "that question" started to bug me. I was volunteering at Menlo Park VA Hospital and I heard one of the doctors ask a Vet there, "What do you want in life?"
Later I heard the same doctor talk with another Vet and ask him, "Is there anything that you've always wanted, either to do or have? What do you want?"
It seemed for the next few weeks every time I turned around there was someone asking that question in one way or another. It was an interesting question really, considering I was volunteering at the PTSD unit and some guys there gave up on "wanting" anything a long time ago. Most seem to feel they didn't deserve it, some just figured it wouldn't last, and of course there were those who acted as though wanting something was for children and not for grown people in the real world. No kidding, some of the guys had no motivation to want anything.
For me, while I had gone back to work after taking some time off between jobs. I had just started Contracting out my services and felt pretty good about it.
For the first time in my life, it seemed everything was working out as it's supposed to according to Hoyle. I was doing pretty good for myself. There was the business that I was trying to get started, I was in a fairly good relationship if you consider that we hardly saw each other most of the time, I was volunteering so that I could try to give back to the Community, and there was a few dollars in my checking that was actually mine to keep. Imagine that!
So why was "that question" bothering me?
Well for years I felt that I was missing something, something special, something that I felt I might have lost and couldn't find. At first I thought maybe it was the adventure of the Marine Corps? And yes, I always looked at my time as a United States Marine as an adventure. Then I thought that maybe it was the camaraderie, the fellowship, the sea stories that I missed or really wanted back?
But it couldn't be and I really didn't think it was that because I didn't have a lack of friends. Most of the people I knew back then were very good friends, and yes they were great fun to be around even if they weren't as full of beans as some Marines can be.
Some of them I'd only met withing those few years after spending so much time on the road going around the country on work. Some on the other hand were very old friends who would call me for get-togethers and maybe ask me to help out at their local rodeos. Of course they'd always call so that I could do my part during gatherings and branding season.
Most of them I had known for quite a few years. One close friend told me later that though he really couldn't put his finger on it, he knew that I felt there was something missing.
A day or two after my birthday, I drove into the Union 76 in Livermore California for a fill up and a cup of coffee to go. It was a day no different than any other Winter day in the Bay Area, a little cold but clear. Livermore was still all and all a Cowboy town back then, and it was beyond most of our crystal balls to see that just ten to fifteen years down the road it would be transformed into some sort of "Yuppyville."
When I walked into the 76 for my coffee, I knew that I had met that young woman working behind the counter once before. And no, I couldn't remember her name. And yes, it surprised me that she remembered mine. After all, if memory served me right, she was after my friend Mark who happened to be single at the time.
"Tom, hi, how are you?" she asked.
"Good. It's a slow day." I answered.
"What's Mark's phone number? she asked with pen in hand waiting for me to give her his number.
"Why?" I asked not believing that she really expected me to give out a friend's number to someone who I hardly knew.
"Well, I'd like to call him. Do you think Mark would buy my horse?" she asked as though she knew Mark.
"Mark, buy your horse? No way! He's into motorcycles, not horses." I answered laughing a little at what I thought was a pretty good joke of sorts.
I paid for my coffee and walked outside to check on my fill up, and then decided to get more information about her horse since I might know someone in the market for one.
When I went back into the store to ask her about it, she said that her horse was a six year old registered Quarter horse bay, a gelding, and about 15.2 hands tall. Then she went on to say that she was into racing barrels, and the reason she's selling him is that he was just too slow off the dime and around the barrels. She assured me that he was a great horse. According to her, he trailed well, was calm, easy to shoe, great with kids, and never gave her a lick of trouble. Sound familiar? I thought so to!
Before leaving I asked if I could take a look at her horse, just so that if anyone asked me if I had actually seen him that I can at least say that I did. She said she was getting off work in an hour and would be glad to show him to me.
I left and returned in an hour and then followed her to where she boarded her horse on the other side of Livermore.
It was an interesting stable. For one thing she had a trailer on the property and lived there. Secondly there were only a hand full of horses in the old place. It was pretty run down and looked like it was built in either the late 1950s or early 60s. It also looked like it once boarded maybe 40 horses easily. She helped maintain the stable in return for keeping her trailer there. And yes, her trailer was indeed a Cowgirl Cottage.
When she brought out her horse, it was nice to see that she was exactly what she said he was. He was a bay, about 15.2 hands, a Quarter, a gelding, and yes he was calm. Actually lethargic was more like it.
She didn't say he'd been starved lately to save money on feed while she was selling him, or that he was skin and bones. She didn't say he was probably suffering from not being wormed in a long time, and she didn't mention how his hooves were cracked and uncared for. She also failed to mention how his teeth may have needed floating because it hadn't been done in forever and a day. In fact, the horse was completely neglected. And come to find out later, he was one of those horses that people buy and board and never care for or go see.
When she handed me his lead rope he slowly walked a few steps up to me with his head hanging down and when he reached me he just let out a groan.
Under his ragged coat and tangles mane, besides his cracked hooves, and worn out look, there was a horse with really nice conformation. He had a wide chest and straight legs. He wasn't pigeon toed or splayed. His head was nice, no roman nose or parrot lip, and his teeth looked good considering his upkeep. He wasn't sickle hocked and he had a great hind end. He was just gaunt and needed help.
So I asked he how much she wanted in case I found someone who'd be interested. It would be nice to know what she wanted for the horse. Then I asked what she'd take knowing that no one was going to take what she was asking. She said she'd take half of what she was asking. She also said that he can board there if need be.
I then asked her if she wanted a Check or Cash? She said she'd take cash if she could get it. And that's when I said, "Jump in my truck and let's go to my Bank. I'll give you what you'll take and not what you're asking for. He needs a lot of work and care. I'll give you cash. You can sell him to me."
And that my friends is how I bought my horse Murphy back in 1996. The feeling that I had, well it was all about my needing my son Murphy.
That's right! Something was missing, and come to find out it was this horse. He found me to care for him.
There is a strange and mysterious world surrounding us. For most of the time it's hidden from our senses. It's one of the simples and yet most profound questions in science. The searh to understand the nature of reality. But in this quest common sense is no guide. Looking for clues has taken scientists to the fronties of what is possible to know from black holes to the deepest structures of space and time.
What is Reality uncovers the incomprehensible ideas and experiments that change our understanding of reality.
(AsiaNews) - Financial, not technical or weather factors are behind higher prices. Inflation is the by-product of huge liquidity injected into the markets by central banks, in particular the US Federal Reserve, as AsiaNews has pointed over the years. For a long time, the price of raw materials has for the most part not reflected the interaction of supply and demand for real goods. By far, the main factor in shaping the price of almost all raw materials is trading by financial operators who can quickly shift huge amounts of money from government bonds to securities, stocks and so-called goods. For those with the right connections, profits are huge and risks relatively low. Since they have access to almost unlimited resources, they can get what they want. Market values are systematically distorted in large measure, but not exclusively, by the ‘Plunge Protection Team’, a colloquial term used by newspapers for a little known body with an exclusive membership that has a major impact on markets. Set up in 1988, its official name is the President's Working Group on Financial Markets. It includes the secretary of the Treasury, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, the chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. In addition, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which oversees the nation's open market operations, is now routinely involved as well. A small number of institutional groups rotate around the aforementioned bodies as well. They include big business banks, like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, and hedge funds. Movement of personnel between these institutional groups and big private groups are commonplace; thus, no one should be surprised if a handful of managers in charge of speculative funds can earn huge annual pays, a billion dollars just in fees in some cases.
THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: It has been said that when America catches a cold the world catches pneumonia. Our financial crisis in the United States, coupled by massive government spending, and the willingness of the Federal Reserve to float the debt with trillions of dollars in funny money, is now coming back to bite us. The world will suffer first, and then Americans are not far behind.
The riots currently going on around the world may have political underpinnings, but it is inflation and food shortages that has sparked them. These economic woes are in great part the direct result of our own government's criminal negligence.
Since starting this Blog, I've used a shotgun approach at what I wanted to write about. The shotgun approach is the concept that with a big enough spread I might hit something that my friends might find interesting. To my way of thinking, a rifle or bullet approach would have meant pin pointing a particular field and area of concern like say politics and focus my writing only on that subject.
I didn't really want to do that for a couple of reasons. First, like you, I'm concerned about what's happening to our country politically. And yes I have opinions on what's going on, but just like you I'm no Politician or Political Analyst. I am just a concerned Citizen.
The second reason is that I truly love people on the overall. I have always loved hearing about what my friends have done in their lives. I've always enjoyed their stories of the great things that they've experienced both big and small.
I love watching their expressions change with every infliction of their voice. It's something that I've enjoyed since I was a kid growing up in Hawaii where "talking story" is an old tradition.
Sure, I've met some people in my life who were so mean and nasty that they give the rest of mankind a bad name. And sure, some folks are just no good no matter what! Working in some of the lines or work that I have can sometimes jade a person. And being real honest with you and myself, I think for a while there I thought it had.
It took effort on my part to shake that sort of attitude and again give people the benefit of the doubt. I find that it's sometimes not easy to believe something good about someone, rather than something bad, especially when their worse side keeps popping up over and over again and we see who they really are. And no, I'm not talking about just Liberals and Democrats.
Lastly, I like stories about almost everything. From the ones that others have told me to the one's that I've lived, I like them all.
It's true. From the story about landing a marlin in Baja just under 15 minutes, to getting drunk with a monkey in the Philippines. From seeing my first huge herd of buffalo, to watching a dolphin trainer at Sea Life Park in Hawaii do her magic.
From finding the ranch ruins of the old CCC ranch in Kunia on Oahu, or my trying to hunt for gold in a creek in the Sierra Mountains, to building horse stalls as it's starting to snow. From bears scrounging around in camp at two in the morning, to a story about a mule that was a true man killer. From telling others about buying a new saddle from someone who didn't know that saddles have sizes, and to my wife's new horse Tango, and more.
Yes, I love stories about our lives.
A great long time friend, who has known me through all sorts of ups and downs, wrote me this: "I’m getting a kick out of the writings. Kind of a “life stew” concept that takes a little bit of everything and brings it together in a serving of satisfaction."
That is one of the nicest things that I've ever been told. It's nice to hear that I'm on the right track as to what I set out to do. It is exactly what I've intended.
I hope you find the same feeling as you read some of these stories and opinions.
And by the way, I know some stories are funny while some are not, and yes some are too strange to be thought true. For me, I always try to go with what my Grandfather once told me, "Tell 'em the truth, because they'll never believe it anyways!"
Until later, enjoy the stew!
I love this picture. To me, it really shows what life's about.
Full of the unexpected!
Hopefully, like the armed Cowboy,
I hope you're ready for what you might meet coming around a blind corner.
Above all, trust in the slow work of God. We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end without delay. We should like to skip the intermediate stages. We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new. Yet it is the law of all progress that is made by passing through some stages of instability and that
THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: There is a foreboding spirit in the air lately, the "something big is about to happen" kind of spirit. Something that is likely to change the United States of America forever. We cannot know what exactly it will be, but we can know what the underlying causes are.
The American people are guilty of one great sin which will be our undoing. That sin is APATHY. We have allowed the success of our nation to make us decadent, and in becoming decadent we put our own personal desires above the good of our nation and our people. We stopped going to church (well most of us anyway) and we forgot about God. We elected politicians based on their promises of what they would give us, rather than on what was best for the country. We looked for what we could get out of America and the system, rather than what we could contribute and put back in. We allowed our courts to remove all trace of Christianity from our public schools and public square. We allowed our courts to decide that killing the helpless was "okay" so long as they couldn't speak for themselves. We permitted our courts and our politicians to promote all forms of abominable immorality and we looked the other way. When our politicians committed scandalous acts of immorality we laughed. They became part of our entertainment, while we looked for entertainment everywhere. We tuned into "American Idol" and "ESPN" while the fabric of our nation burned around us. Then in late 2008 the economy completely collapsed, and rather than make the sacrifices necessary to allow for it's slow recovery, we elected politicians that promised a quick fix with more government spending and entitlement programs.
Now the other shoe is about to drop and nothing can stop it. We have amassed a national debt topping $14 trillion with an annual deficit topping $1.4 trillion. This cannot be sustained. The end of our way of life is now upon us.
In a previous blog entry I gave a short summary plan for how to save Europe. Europe's social and cultural problems are far more serious that America's, and so my recommended plan had to be short and simple. For the United States of America, we are in much better shape socially and culturally. Yes, our nation has sustained significant damage, and these things are quickly eroding, however our situation is not as bad as Europe's and in spite of whatever economic and political catastrophe awaits us, America does have the resources to recover both socially and culturally. Unlike Europe, we do not need to import our cultural salvation from somewhere else.
The following points are designed to restore American society and culture to it's historic Christian standard. I honestly don't know if any of these suggestions will ever be implemented, but I do know this. If something akin to them is not implemented soon, the United States WILL FRACTURE into multiple smaller nation-states. Some of those nation-states will implement the suggestions below, and those nation-states will recover and thrive eventually. As an American however, I would prefer my nation stick together, so here is the plan...
Immediately implement a federal subsidiarity plan (i.e. "federalism") in which the federal government gradually turns all social programs and regulations over to the state governments, while the federal government takes a subsidiary role to the state governments. This plan should take no more than five years, and by it's end the state governments will be the supreme governments over the people of the United States, while the federal government will be almost invisible to them.
Remove all federal powers to tax the people directly (namely the income tax and entitlement taxes) and leave these matters for the states, while the federal government receives all of it's funding from tariffs and excise taxes.
Remove all federal court jurisdiction over issues related to religion, marriage, abortion, cloning and euthanasia, allowing the states to decide these issues for themselves.
Close all foreign U.S. bases, except in those countries that are willing to PAY US for our presence, and redeploy our troops to protect and patrol American borders.
Adopt a constitutional balanced-budget amendment for the federal government.
English should be made the official national language, and most-favored immigration status should be given to Mexico, provided immigrants learn English and how to assimilate into American society.
The federal government should enforce antitrust laws vigorously, break up monopolies in all industries including the banks and media, and pull out of NAFTA and GATT.
Each state should then make some formal declaration OFFICIALLY recognizing the historic significance of Christianity in the development of each state and the United States in general. If changes need to be made to the state constitutions to allow for this, than those changes should be made.
Each state should publicly fund alternatives to abortions and work toward eliminating all public funding of abortion. Some states are ready to ban abortion completely, and they should do so immediately.
Each state should adopt Sweden's model of subsidized school choice. If changes need to be made to the state constitutions to allow for this, than those changes should be made.
Each state should adopt a method of taxation that is non-intrusive to the American people and does not impose upon their religious or social freedoms.
Each state should print it's own currency. This is permissible under the U.S. Constitution and U.S. law. What is forbidden is minting coins for legal tender. Paper notes are legal to print under U.S. law, provided the appropriate federal regulations are followed. This is necessary to create alternatives to the U.S. dollar that promote spending at a local level on local goods and services rather than imported and interstate goods and services. This is vital toward the restoration of local economies.
Each state should encourage local cities and communities to adopt regulations (as they see fit) that prevent big corporate takeovers of local economies. The states should vigorously back these communities, while the federal government takes a subsidiary role to the states.
I know it is unlikely these measures will be enacted in the United States, and that is very unfortunate indeed, as they are necessary to save this nation from economic and political ruin. The good news is that American Christian culture and society is still strong enough to rise from the ashes without the need for importing Christians from other countries. The failure to implement the above suggestions will ultimately result in the economic and political collapse of the United States. What will arise from the ashes of the "Late Great United States" will be several smaller nation-states, made up primarily of like-minded states from the former Union. These like-minded states will likely combine to form new political unions, and some of them will likely implement measures similar to the suggestions above. When that happens, those new nations-states will prosper and thrive. As for the others - who knows?
THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: The fact that Europe is careening toward cultural suicide is indisputable. Muslims are already the fastest growing demographic group in Europe and in many European nations Muslims threaten to become the majority within a matter of decades. The German government has already publicly admitted that Germany is well on it's way to becoming an Islamic republic. While other European nations are not as openly honest about their future, some of them are actually heading toward that goal much faster than Germany. Failure to correct this course now will only accelerate the demise of Europe as we know it. It's not that I expect any of these suggestions to be implemented, but I thought it would be nice to spell out some simple solutions in one blog entry. Now I understand this is not a comprehensive plan, and it omits many key issues that readers of this blog will naturally recognize as necessary to European recovery. Indeed, my readers will recognize that some of these suggestions don't go nearly far enough. I acknowledge that. However, what I'm trying to do is outline a basic framework for the slow long-term and organic recovery of traditional European Christian identity. If the following policies were implemented by the European Union, and European nations respectively, it would (over time) correct the entire course of Europe toward a much more Christian society that is more consistent with European history and culture....
Each European country, along with the general European Union, should OFFICIALLY recognize the historic significance of Christianity in the development of modern Europe.
Each European country, along with the general European Union, should publicly fund alternatives to abortions and work toward eliminating all public funding of abortion.
Each European country should STOP their liberal indiscriminate immigration policies, and instead implement a fast-track "Law of Return," for the descendants of Europeans who left the continent within the last 100 years. Case in point, American descendants of German immigrants going back to 1911 (one-hundred years ago from 2011), should be permitted to return immediately with entitlement toward basic housing and employment, along with fast-track citizenship within 2 to 3 years. The same would go for English immigrants to America, Canada, Australia, etc. Each country should implement it's own "Law of Return" based on the one-century model and preferential treatment should be given to such people under 50 years of age, as these people are most likely to bring children and/or produce more. Each country should implement it's own "Law of Return" as it sees fit, offering various enticements (as the country feels necessary) to make the law effective. These enticements should take into consideration the "type" of returning immigrants each country wants - preferably professional and skilled individuals with a good work ethic.
The European Union should adopt a model of subsidiarity in dealing with it's member-states.
As I said above, there is so much more that can (and should) be done, but this would be a good starting point. Mark my words, if something like this is not implemented soon, all of Europe will be lost within one generation. Also as I said above, I don't expect any of these suggestions to be implemented, as it seems it is within the very nature of liberal democracies to commit social and cultural suicide.
So with that, understanding that European nations probably WON'T do what needs to be done, The Catholic Knight would like to say one thing to my European brothers and sisters...
THANK YOU
Thank you Europe for everything you have given to the world. Thank you for the middle ages, and the rise of Christendom, which gave us all the technological, social and cultural Renaissance that made Western Civilization possible. Thank you for the invention of the printing press and modern science. Thank you for the social foundation upon which North and South America were built, as well as Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Africa and Asia. Thank you for your great and vast contribution to the history of the world. Thank you and God bless you. You will be sorely missed.
This is unbelievable and if I hadn't checked it out for myself, I wouldn't believe it.
The annual Martin Luther King Jr. observance at the state house in Columbia, South Carolina, had an interesting twist this year. The event was held on the north side steps of the Statehouse on Monday, January 17th.
Prominent at that location is a large bronze statue of George Washington. But some did not want to look at the grand statue of George Washington, instead the NAACP organizers constructed a "box" around the front and sides of the statue of Washington to hide him from view.
Why you ask? Well the answer is that the NAACP did not want the people attending their rally to be offended by Washington's presence. No kidding! Offended by Washington's presence, imagine that?
It does not matter to those people that George Washington is the Father of Our Country, nor does it matter to them that our freedoms were bought and paid for by Washington and other men like him over 200 years ago.
It obviously did not matter to the NAACP organizers who had a "box" built around that statue just how offensive their actions are to the rest of America.
Martin Luther King Jr. said, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
Actions like building a "box" around a statue of George Washington so that "they" wouldn't be offended by Washington's presence might seem childish and ignorant to some. Maybe it is that? But it does make me wonder if those people from the NAACP truly understand what King was saying?
Probably not, but that doesn't matter because even their stupidity and ignorant behavior can't make up for their disgusting actions.
And after all, I don't judge those people by the color of their skin but insteadI judge them as I do all people and that's by the content of their character just as Martin Luther King Jr would have wanted.
Watch this primer on Judaism by Michael Voris, then read The Catholic Knight's article below.
The Conversion of St. Paul on the Road to Damascus
THE CATHOLIC KNIGHT: Today (January 25) is the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul. It's generally not one of the major feasts we look forward to in the Church, but it is nevertheless a very important commemoration, and it's one that is extremely applicable to our time. You see, one of the biggest problems in Christianity today is a fundamental lack of understanding of what the Church really is. By "Church" I mean the "Catholic Church" directly, and those who are tied to the Catholic Church through baptism indirectly.
First, let me clarify that last sentence. The Catechism of the Catholic Church explicitly teaches that those who are baptized according to the Trinitarian formula, that is in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, have effectively received an authentic Catholic baptism, even if the baptism was not performed by a Catholic priest or deacon. "Baptism constitutes the foundation of communion among all Christians, including those who are not yet in full communion with the Catholic Church: 'For men who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in some, though imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church. Justified by faith in Baptism, [they] are incorporated into Christ; they therefore have a right to be called Christians, and with good reason are accepted as brothers by the children of the Catholic Church.' 'Baptism therefore constitutes the sacramental bond of unity existing among all who through it are reborn.'" - (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1271) So what does that mean? It means that virtually every Protestant has received an authentic baptism recognized by the Catholic Church! It means that virtually every Protestant is in a similar situation to a Catholic who was baptized in the Church, but walked away from the Church before receiving confirmation and holy Eucharist. It means that virtually all Protestants (Evangelicals, Baptists, Methodists, Lutherans, etc.) effectively have one foot in the door of the Catholic Church, by virtue of their Trinitarian baptism alone. Their communion with Rome does exist, by virtue of our common baptism, but that communion is imperfect and impaired. In addition to that, there are also the Eastern Orthodox Christians, who's sacraments Rome recognizes entirely, who are only separated from Rome simply by canonical issues that can be remedied when the time comes. So when I say the "Church" I am speaking primarily of the Catholic Church directly, and other Christians united to her in baptism indirectly. The Catholic Church can be compared to a great ship with many small rafts tethered to it. There is only one ship, which is the "bark of Peter," but many small rafts tethered to her. The rafts contain groups of Christians, who for whatever reason, are not in full unity with Rome, and the tethered ropes are like the common bond of baptism that unites us. Now that I've defined things a bit, let's move on to the topic at hand...
The Catholic Church is Israel.
I hope that last sentence stands out for you. Here is the scripture reference to back it up. "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And whosoever shall follow this rule, peace on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God." - (Galatians 6:15-16) Here St. Paul tells his readers that in Christ neither circumcision (Jewish law) nor uncircumcision (Gentile custom) matters. What matters are those who follow the gospel, and those who follow the gospel are the "Israel of God." It is absolutely essential that Christians (not just Catholics) fully understand this. We, the Church, are the "Israel of God." We are Israel. We are the spiritual remnant of ancient Israel, expanded and multiplied, to encompass the whole world. This was (and is) God's plan of salvation. It has not changed. For in the Church, it matters not whether you are Jew or Gentile. What matters is that you are in full-communion with that one Jew who unites us together. I'm speaking of the Jewish rabbi who is both Messiah and King - Jesus of Nazareth. "In fact, from the beginning of his ministry, the Lord Jesus instituted the Twelve as 'the seeds of the new Israel and the beginning of the sacred hierarchy.'" - (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 877)
Artist Sketch of an Olive Tree
The Church, particularly the Catholic Church, is Israel. There is no other Israel today, in a Biblical sense, than the Church. The Church is also Zion. There is no other Zion, in a spiritual sense, than the Church. The Church is also the New Jerusalem. There is no other "Jerusalem," in a spiritual sense than the Church. This is a fundamental teaching of the New Testament. Without this understanding, everything becomes convoluted. If you read Israel and the Church as being two separate entities than you've missed the boat, and one of the most fundamental teachings of the New Testament just went right over your head. In the eleventh chapter of St. Paul's epistle to the Romans he uses the illustration of an olive tree to make his point. He compares the Church to a tree that has it's roots in the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob), and it's trunk representing the Law and Prophets in the Old Testament. No tree trunk grows upward into infinity. At some point it must sprout branches, and so St. Paul's "olive tree" does the same. These branches make up the modern Church in Jesus Christ. Some branches are Jewish Christians. Many branches are Gentile Christians. Both are precious in the eyes of God. This is the "Israel of God."
What about those Jews who refused to believe in Jesus Christ? St. Paul himself tells us those are the branches that were cut off from the tree - at least for the time being. These branches can however be grafted back in at any time, and indeed he assures us that someday they all will be, in the fullness of time. As far as we're concerned anyway, Christianity (neither Judaism nor some piece of real estate in the Middle East) makes up the new "Israel of God," and it's been this way ever since Christ initiated the New Covenant some 2,000 years ago.
This is how we Christians are to understand ourselves, and the Church, in the context of Israel and the Old Testament. I cannot stress how incredibly important this is, because if it is not understood, the errors that will arise from it will be nothing short of monumental!
Where does this put the Church in relation to the rest of the Jewish people? Simply put, we (the Church) are Zion! We are Israel! That is what it explicitly says in the New Testament and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. To become complete as a Jew is no different than what it takes to become complete as a Gentile. We all must be "grafted in" to Israel - which is The Catholic Church! The path is no different for a Jew than it is for a Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu or Wiccan. We are all the same in God's eyes now, and the door is open to all of us equally.
It had to be this way you see. Christ fulfilled the Old Covenant, and established a New Covenant that puts us all on equal footing. He didn't destroy the Old Covenant - he FULFILLED it! The Old Covenant still remains, but is fulfilled in Christ, and must be understood fully in the context of Christ.
Now the Gospel was given first to the Jews - that is to the apostles and disciples of Jesus - and then to the rest of the world. It was delivered to the synagogues first, where the apostles would gather a small remnant of faithful Jews who would in turn help them deliver the gospel to the Gentiles. "The Church keeps ever in mind the words of the Apostle about his kinsmen: 'theirs is the sonship and the glory and the covenants and the law and the worship and the promises; theirs are the fathers and from them is the Christ according to the flesh' (Rom. 9:4-5), the Son of the Virgin Mary. She also recalls that the Apostles, the Church's main-stay and pillars, as well as most of the early disciples who proclaimed Christ's Gospel to the world, sprang from the Jewish people." - (Nostra Aetate, 4; Second Vatican Council, October 28, 1965) The one and only boasting privilege of being a Jewish convert to the Church is knowing that God came in the flesh as one of your own kinsmen, and he gave the Gospel to your kinsmen first, and they in turn gave it to the world. That is what it means to be a Jewish Christian - a Hebrew Catholic. Yet there is more, St. Paul tells us that the rejection of the gospel by the majority of Jews is actually a blessing to the world, because by doing so, the gospel has been given to the Gentiles, and it has allowed the Church (God's Israel) to expand to the farthest reaches of the earth. That is not the end of the story though, St. Paul gives us a prophetic glimpse of the future of the Jewish people. While the Church gains more Jewish converts in every era, Paul tells us that a day will come when the Jewish people will accept the gospel en mass, thus completing the Church and bringing the final epic of human history to a close. He more than hints that the fullness of Israel (the Church), by the inclusion of all the Jewish people together with the Gentiles, will result in the Second Advent of Christ, the resurrection of the dead, and the life everlasting! But there is more, the apostle also tells us that there will never be a time in human history when the Church will be vacant of faithful Jewish Christians. He assures us that throughout all of history, God always has a remnant of his original covenant people in the Church. No other race or ethnic group has been given such a promise. It is unique only to the Jews. So we Gentile Christians must never be haughty or nasty toward the Jewish people, whether they are believers or not, for God has promised their tribe more than any of us. One day they shall ALL be our Christian brethren, so we must treat them appropriately, and until that day comes, there will always be a faithful remnant of them in God's Israel - that is The Catholic Church.
The Catholic Church (Israel) has soundly condemned all forms of hatred or bigotry toward people of Jewish heritage and culture. Specifically, some corrupt individuals throughout history have tried to collectively blame ALL Jews for the crucifixion of Christ. This is unfair. The only people responsible for this were the people who actually condemned Jesus Christ to death - meaning the Jewish Sanhedrin of 33 AD. We're talking about a group of no more than 71 men here - and not all of them agreed. Some of them actually rose to Jesus' defense. However, the majority of these 71 men (at least 37 to 50 men) found Christ "guilty" of blasphemy and condemned him to death. These are the only men we should ever hold fully responsible, and all of them have been dead for some 20 centuries now. To hold the Jewish people of today collectively responsible for a crime that was committed by about 50 men some 2,000 years ago is irrational and prejudice. The Catholic Church has categorically condemned such irrational prejudice and specifically teaches: "although the Church is the new people of God, the Jews should not be presented as rejected or accursed by God, as if this followed from the Holy Scriptures" and "furthermore, in her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel's spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone." - (Nostra Aetate, 4)
A great fallacy has been circulating the globe for the last century and a half. It has particularly taken root in Anglophone (English-speaking) countries. It is the fallacy called Dispensationalism. It is a heresy that not only permeates many Protestant denominations and affiliations, but it has even penetrated the Catholic Church. Yes, there are Dispensationalist groups even among Catholics. The fallacy teaches that God has formed two covenant peoples. There are the Jews of the Old Covenant, and the Church of the New Covenant. The fallacy continues to teach that the modern day Jews of today are still "Israel" and that Israel is a completely separate entity from the Church. So the fallacy goes, God has one plan of salvation for ethnic Israel (the Jews), and another for the Church (primarily Gentiles). As the fallacy of Dispensationalism has played out over the last century and a half, the national State of Israel is incorrectly assumed to be the "true Israel" while the Church is simply considered "the Church" having no real connection. Some Christians use this rationale to blindly support the State of Israel, regardless of it's politics that often harm both Palestinian Christians and Muslims. This ideology is called "Zionism" and it is contrary to the gospel. Jesus, the rightful King of Israel, plainly stated that his Kingdom was not of this world (John 18:36), because if it were his servants would fight. Jesus however, did not instruct his apostles to fight. He instructed them to pray and to teach instead. This teaching upset some of his followers, perhaps even Judas Iscariot (who eventually betrayed him), because they were waiting for years for a Messiah that would violently take back the old Kingdom of Israel from the Romans. They dreamed of a glorious battle of liberation not seen since the time of the Maccabees. Jesus had different plans. The Kingdom of God (Israel) is not about a piece of real estate and who owns it. That is not why God gave them the promised land in the first place. The promised land wasn't about the promised land, it was about providing a nursery suitable for God to raise up his people for a much greater task ahead. That being the task of taking the gospel to the world, and expanding Israel (the Church) to cover the whole planet. It was not to be a kingdom of laws and men, but rather a Realm of Spirit and Truth, founded on Jesus Christ and built on Peter the rock. To focus on real estate in the Middle East is to completely miss the point. The ancient Land of Israel was merely a nursery to raise God's people for something bigger and better. It was a means to an end, not an end in and of itself. The problem with Zionism is that it focuses completely on the land - real estate - and ignores the role of the Church.
Some Christians use the Dispensationalist rationale to seek religious fulfillment in modern Jewish ceremonies and liturgies. This is a very ancient error called "Judaizing," an error strongly condemned by St. Paul. (Most Christians who do this today are Evangelical Protestants who often call themselves "Messianics" or "Messianic Jews.")
The above are the modern manifestations of the fallacy of Dispensationalism, but it is the fallacy itself that is most dangerous, because it denies the Biblical place of the Church in the divine plan of God.
Christians would do well to remember that St. Paul, and the apostles, thought the Greek version of the Jewish scriptures (Septuagint) was just as authoritative as the Hebrew and Aramaic versions. In fact it can be said they even thought it far more relevant to the New Covenant than any other version, as the majority of quoted Old Testament passages in the New Testament come from this Greek version. Christians would do well to remember that the word most commonly used for the Nation of Israel in this Greek Old Testament is "Ecclesia" which means literally "a called out people." It's the exact same word used in the original Greek New Testament for the Church. In the eyes of St. Paul and the apostles, Israel and the Church were one in the same. This was in perfect continuity with the Old Testament as demonstrated in St. Paul's "olive tree" illustration (Romans 11).
Let us remember today why St. Paul was on the road to Damascus some 2,000 years ago. Back then he was known simply as "Saul," a pious Jew who took it upon himself to persecute the Church. He was knocked off his horse and blinded by an apparition of the Lord Jesus Christ - who asked him "Saul, why are you persecuting me?" St. Paul was persecuting the Church, using Jewish laws, in a form of inquisition sanctioned by the scribes and pharisees in Jerusalem. These scribes and pharisees had no recognition of the Church being part of Israel, but the irony was that the reason why they did not recognize Israel in the Church was because the scribes and pharisees were no longer part of Israel - at least not in a spiritual sense. They had cut themselves out, through self-excommunication, by denying Jesus as the promised Messiah. In turn, Jesus revoked the authority of the Jewish leadership, by giving the "keys of the kingdom" to St. Peter (Matthew 16:18-19) effectively making the fisherman the King's prime minister - spokesman for all Israel. St. Peter later went to Rome and founded the Church there where he eventually met up with St. Paul, and together they led the Church there, and ultimately shed their blood for her.
Today a new kind of persecution of the Church is going on, and it's rooted in the fallacy of Dispensationalism. This fallacy leads to the worst form of anti-Catholicism, as is evidenced by the volumes of anti-Catholic writings produced by Dispensationalist authors. While in some cases, Dispensationalism actually causes Christians to support some very unChristian things - such as Zionism and Judaizing for example. Let's not beat around the bush here. Dispensational theology is physically harming Christians! How? This is how it works. Dispensationalism leads Christians to support Zionism. Zionism in turn leads to the blind support of the Nation of Israel and all it's policies, regardless of their effect. Many of those policies are directed against the Palestinian people, regardless of their religion, and many of those Palestinian people are Christians. Those Palestinian Christians suffer poverty and physical infirmity because of those policies. The strange irony of our time is that many Christians in the West, (mainly Evangelical Dispensationalists), are blindly supporting a regime that is directly persecuting their Christian brethren (Palestinian Christians) in the very homeland of Jesus Christ, and they do this thinking Jesus somehow approves. The strange irony is that while St. Paul instructed Western Christians to take up collections to help Palestinian Christians during his time, Dispensationalist pastors actively take up collections to support a regime that persecutes them in our time. Dispensationalism is a fallacy that must be resisted, but this can only be effectively done by knowing and understanding the place of the Church as the new "Israel of God." This is what the New Testament teaches. It is not "replacement theology" as some have incorrectly labeled it. This is authentic "olive tree ecclesiology" as understood by the man who invented it - St. Paul himself - and has been historically called by the name "Covenant Theology."
So where would you hide a deer? My friend with the deer had a problem, pointedly an out-of-season buck. What he told me was something that I would have never thought of doing.
Actually in the days when I was hunting and hunting was a religious experience, I would sometimes go without taking a shot after searching all weekend for a legal deer. Unlike a lot of other parts of the country, California's terrain of thick woods and hilly country can make finding a deer sort of tricky. So most of us hope that luck will be on our side when hunting season rolls around. Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn't!
There was one winter back in the early 1990's that I worked up in very unfriendly Monticello Minnesota for a few weeks. I was only there for a little while working at the power plant during an annual planned outage.
Driving to the plant was always interesting because snow was coming down very heavily and none of the native population acted as though they ever drove in snow before. I'd never seen so many people spin out in my life. It was incredible to watch.
Yup, outside of the plant was colder than a polar bear's backside. And yes, inside wasn't much better. Inside the plant, almost no one was at work. I wondered why for a few minutes before a guy walked by where I was working, so I took the opportunity to ask what was up with only having a skeleton crew on duty?
"So tell me pard, where is everyone?" I asked while hoping he was different than everyone else that I had met in Minnesota.
"You must not be from here, right?!" he said completely dashing my hopes that he was different as soon as he opened his mouth.
"Right!" I admitted to him. "I'm not a local. I'm out here from California. So where is everyone?"
"Ah California! It figures! Out here men hunt! Today is the first day of Deer Season! No one works today if they can get it off. I'm out of here later," he answered.
Thinking that he might be nicer if I told him that I hunted also, I was wrong as soon as I asked, "I deer hunt in California, so tell me, how tough is it out her?"
"What's tough about it? The deer are brown and the snow is white! I shot one yesterday outside my bathroom window. I bet you never shoot one just after ...."
Just then the noise of the plant picked up and I really couldn't hear what he asked, so I just shock my head no and went back to what I was working on.
Now friends I can honestly say that up until that point in my life I'd never met anyone who has taken a rifle to the bathroom with them or has ever shot a buck from their bathroom window, either standing or sitting.
Over the years I've been told a lot of hunting stories, some funny and some strange. I remember a friend telling me once how he was still in his sleeping bag when a big old buck walked through his camp. Another friend once told me about a deer he shot on a slope across where he was only to find out that the downed buck was actually on the other side of a river unknown to him. I remember him saying how he had a heck of a time getting it across and what a pain that was.
Then of course there are those people who've told me about shooting and loosing this or that deer after taking their shot. Most say they'll never know whether they missed it, or whether it was just wounded and the deer disappeared in the thicket.
Knowing the guys who've told me this, I can honestly say that they probably missed. Poor shots as they were, it wouldn't surprise me. I know some guys who can't shoot real well unless the buck is big and close, almost standing right in front of them. Other than that, they probably couldn't hit it even if they were using a rifle. And God knows how they'd be with a bow?
So friends over the years very few hunting stories surprise me. And now with times getting tougher with gas prices at almost $4 a gallon again, and of course food and especially meat prices climbing as well, I personally don't have too much of a problem with someone taking a deer out-of-season to feed their family. To feed their family makes it OK in my book.
I'm not advocating poaching or breaking any laws, especially to the extremes that some people do break the law. I'm talking how I can understand how someone can take a deer because of economic hard times out of necessity to feed your family. I believe there is a difference.
You can call me wrong, or whatever else, but I can't help but wonder how many other folks out there understand and maybe agree with what I'm saying here. It is a man's first responsibility in life to provide for his family. So for me, hunters taking a deer out-of-season these days just doesn't surprise me one bit.
Maybe that's why when my friend was talking about shooting this buck, and just how terrified he was that a Game Warden was going to come down on him like a hammer, I understood both the reason he took the deer and how he'd have good reason to be so concerned.
Game Wardens have a lot of authority. If a Warden finds that you weren't within the Law, then a Game Warden can fine you, confiscate your gun, and even jail you.
So when my friend told me that as he was opening his front door that he heard a police siren closer than he'd like and that he panicked, well I understood real well how he could have gotten a little rattled. Then when he said that after hearing the siren that that made him run over to his truck and grab up his deer and he decided to hide his deer in his house somewhere, well I have to admit that that was new!
But friends, when he said that he hid that deer in his shower with the water running and the radio on just in case the Game Warden came knocking on his door, well my friends what can I say that's definitely something you don't hear about everyday.
According to TMZ, the real story behind Regis Philbin and Keith Olbermann leaving TV boils down to money. Very Big Money!
Imagine that, two Millionaires angry and underpaid? Sorry but I have no sympathy for either one.
According to TMZ, Regis Philbin quit his show after ABC Execs told his agent they would have to cut his salary when his current contract expired. According to what sources told TMZ.
The same sources connected with the show told TMZ that Regis' agent, Jim Griffin , was talking with ABC Execs from the ABC station group about a new contract for Regis when his current deal expired.
TMZ was told that the ABC honchos made it clear that Regis would be getting a pay cut, partly because the show is not performing as well as in the past, and partly because he takes a lot of time off.
Sources say "Reeg" is currently pulling in between $18 and $20 million a year . And according to sources close to the show, Regis was angry at the $$$$$$$$ offer and that was the trigger for his announcement this week that he's leaving the show and "retiring from Show Business."
TMZ first reported that Regis told Kelly Ripa about his decision 15 minutes before they went on the air, and initially TMZ reported that she was stunned but not angry.
Now TMZ is reporting that Kelly was furious, partly because, as one source said, "She felt it showed a total lack of respect for her."
TMZ claims that the entire production team is angry at Regis because they feel he hurt the show by blindsiding everyone. Leaving many who work for the show, and yes they all don't make millions of dollars, in a lurch.
And as for the according to ultra-Liberal Keith Olbermann, TMZ is reporting a similar situation at NBC. It was reported that Keith Olbermann was leaving his show on MSNBC with no explanation. MSNBC issued a statement that it had ended its contract with the controversial host, with no further explanation.
But today TMZ is reporting that Keith Olbermann's agent recently went to NBC complaining that nice guy Keith was underpaid at $7 Million Dollars per year. Olbermann still had close to two years left on his contract, and TMZ source say he will be paid his salary around $7 Million Dollars a year ... after he leaves.
For me, I've only watched Regis and Kelly Ripa a couple of times in all the time that they've been together. I think Kelly Ripa is as cute as they they come. As for Regis Philbin, he's what I'd consider the definition of a New Yorker. He seems like a nice enough guy who has a sort of dry wit and is always a smooth talker.
As for Keith Olbermann, I only stomached watching his show a few times before I got the picture what he was all about. His hatred for small town Conservative America was up front and not hidden in the least. He acted like a rabid dog at times, and he pushed the envelope as to what he tried to get away with on the air. His constant Bush bashing only fueled his hate for anyone who didn't agree with his leftist ideology.
I guess you can tell that I'm not a fan and not sorry to see him go. He ranks up there with Rosie O'Donnell in intelligent and Communist leanings.
What amazes me is that in today's economy where there are a lot of good people out of work and struggling to make ends meet, that we have Celebrities quitting their jobs because they are not making enough Millions!
And yes they actually feel "underpaid" getting $7 Million Dollars a year, what the heck is that all about? Should I feel sorry for a Celebrity who thinks he can't make ends meet on only making $7 Million Dollars a year? Especially some hatemonger like Keith Olbermann? NO WAY!
For me, I can only hope that Regis and Keith Olbermann have to one day find out what it's like to live in the real world where things might be so tought that you might have to borrow from Peter to pay Paul some months just to make it through the month.
As far as I'm concerned since they're leaving TV they shouldn't be paid a dime in compensation, and honestly they shouldn't let the door hit them in the backside on the way out!
A friend of mine put that interesting question to me. Since Chinese President Hu Jintao is visiting President Obama in Washington, which one is the real Communist?
While talking about the fact that Chinese President Hu Jintao was visiting and had a state dinner with the President Obama, the Chinese President among other things has supposedly pressed President Obama to focus on our economic problems.
Everyone knows that the Chinese government is our biggest lender. We owe them One Trillion Dollars in loans. Loans for money that went where? Who knows?
The Obama administration spent almost a Trillion Dollars on a so-called Stimulus Bill approved by the Democrat controlled Congress during Obama's first few months in the Oval Office.
The problem that most folks have is that no one knows where the money went, or who it went to. It's true. No kidding. Other then sending money to States who have spent themselves into a ditch, the administration has funneled money to so many Democratic Party politicians and their aides, DNC Party donors, and liberal organizations and other liberal causes. Interesting enough the administration has no idea where all the money went.
It's sort of like what happens to the U.S. dollars that Americans send to other countries in foreign aid, or as disaster relief or famine relief. First the heads of those governments take their percentage, then the lower bureaucrats take their cut, the local military get theirs, then of course there's handling charges, and it goes on and on. Heck, what makes it to the actual people that need help? Well, no one knows how much money actually makes it to where it is supposed to go because no one in the money chain wants to tell us what they got or even who got what.
Giving American dollars to foreign governments as Foreign Aid is stupid when we have to borrow the money from China in the first place. It's like borrowing from a friend who happens to be a Banker so that you can give money to your sister. You may look like a great brother because your sister knows she doesn't have to pay you back, but your friend just hopes you won't screw him out of the money you borrowed. Especially while the interest on the money is growing.
When the Chinese did their Stimulus Plan for their country, they gave the money directly to their people to spend and stimulate their economy. And it worked! Imagine that.
So at the State dinner, one has to wonder if President Hu has lectured Obama on the benefits of Capitalism? No kidding, the Chinese are all for it these days. They have found a great deal of power in making money. So maybe spending some time with President Hu will rub off on Barack Obama.
You see the question is a legitimate one. Obama wants to CHANGE America. And since entering office many Americans have seen his idea of CHANGE and now are asking if President Obama truly is some sort of a Communist?
Seeing President Hu with President Obama, it's fair to ask ...
A disturbing article on ConsortiumNews.com, “The 9/11 Truth Parlor Game” (15 January, updated 16 January 2011), by Robert Parry, advances the indefensible theory that the shooting of Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) was affected by the shooter's interest in 9/11 truth. While there are good reasons to suspect that the political climate nurtured by the right wing may have influenced him (by targeting a series of representatives using the cross-hairs of a telescopic site, for example), there is no reason to believe than anyone associated with the 9/11 truth movement has targeted any members of Congress—other than attempting to expose them to the evidence that research has unearthed, which has shown that virtually every claim the government has made about 9/11 is provably false.
As the founder of Scholars for 9/11 Truth, a society of experts and scholars from many different disciplines, including pilots, physicists, structural, mechanical and aeronautical engineers, we have established more than twenty refutations of the government’s official account, including what NIST has had to say about these events, which does not satisfy even minimal standards of scientific acceptability. In this article, for example, Parry maintains that the collapse of the Twin Towers was assured “effect once the beams were weakened by the impact of the planes and the heat from the fires.” But NIST studied 236 samples of steel it selected from the debris and discovered that 233 had not been exposed to temperatures above 500*F and the other three not above 1,200*F, temperatures far below what would have been required for the steel to weaken, much less melt.
One of the most remarkable features of the destruction of the Twin Towers is that the top 30 floors of the South Tower began to pivot before the building was blown to pieces, floor by floor. This refutes the claim that they were “collapsing”, insofar as those top 30 floors were not in the position to exert any downward force that might have brought about a collapse. The South Tower was hit second but was the first to be demolished after only an hour of exposure to fires at 500*F, which is the temperature of ordinary office fires. If that were enough to cause steel and concrete buildings to “collapse”, there would be no need for resorting to controlled demolitions. In fact, no steel structure high-rise ever collapsed due to fire before 9/11 or after 9/11. And if our research is well-founded, that did not happen on 9/11 either. It is part of the mythology of 9/11 brought to us by Philip Zelikow, whose area of academic specialization is the creation and maintenance of public myths.
Since Underwriters Laboratory had certified the steel used in the buildings to 2,000*F for three or four hours without incurring any adverse effects by either weakening or melting, the fires could have burned forever and not have caused the towers to collapse. Jet fuel is made of kerosene, which burns at a lower temperature than propane; yet, as Jesse Ventura has observed, his camping stove, which burns propane, does not melt when he uses it. Since the fires were asymmetrically distributed, moreover, if they had burned hot enough or long enough to have caused the steel to weaken, the result would have been some asymmetrical sagging and tilting, not the complete, abrupt and total demolition that occurred. Which means that Parry is trading in 9/11 fiction, not 9/11 fact.
He even denies that WTC-7, a 47-story skyscraper that came down at 5:20 PM, seven hours after the Twin Towers were destroyed, was a controlled demolition. It fell in approximately 6.5 seconds, which is about the speed of free fall, a classic indication of a collapse that was brought about by a controlled demolition. Many experts have found the pattern of collapse supports that conclusion. A very nice video that demonstrates this to be the case, “This is an Orange”, refutes his allegation that it was because the building had a large atrium that it collapsed as fast as free fall. That ignores the fact that the entire building was extremely robust in construction, having been erected over two massive electrical generators providing back-up electricity for lower Manhattan. This building obviously came down as the result of a controlled demolition, which is why so many in the 9/11 truth community emphasize WTC-7.
He also talks about a vast number of witnesses seeing a Boeing 757 hit the Pentagon and talks about phone calls that were made from the planes. David Ray Griffin, however, has discovered that all of the alleged phone calls from all four of the planes were faked. None of them were real. And Pilots for 9/11 Truth had studied the black box data provided to them by the NTSB and discovered that a plane corresponding to the data would have approached on an easterly trajectory, been 300 feet in the air approaching the building (too high to have taken out any lampposts) and was still 100 feet higher than the Pentagon at one second from impact, which suggests that it flew over the building and did not hit it. Indeed, the absence of massive debris from the plane, including the absence of the wings, the tail, bodies, seats and luggage—not to mention that the massive engines, which are virtually indestructible, were never recovered—indicates that, once again, it is Parry who is propagating myths about 9/11, not 9/11 experts.
While the thrust of Parry’s piece is clearly intended to discredit 9/11 research, he makes at least one important point, which is that we have not yet succeeded in sorting out exactly how all of this was done. The Twin Towers appear to have been taken out by some novel form of demolition from the top down, where, in contrast to WTC-7, each floor remained stationary waiting its turn to be blown to Kingdom come. They, too, came down at approximately free fall speed, which is simply astounding since, in the case of the South Tower, everything below the 80th floor was stone cold steel, as was the case for the North below the 94th floor. There was no reason for them to collapse at all, where their destruction involved the astounding conversion of two massive, 500,000 ton buildings into millions of cubic yards of very fine dust. While the use of thermite has been advanced to explain it, Parry appears to be correct that thermite does not have the explosive properties that would be required to effect this dramatic physical transformation.
Persons like Parry and others, such as Michael Shermer, would have the public believe that conspiracy theories are almost always false, as though the United States were an exception to the experience of other nations. What would William Shakespeare have had to write about were it not for plots against the kings and queens of England? What 9/11 apologists like Shermer and Parry do not point out is that conspiracies only require two or more persons acting together to bring about an illegal end. If the official account of 19 Islamic fundamentalists seizing control of these four aircraft, outfoxing the most sophisticated air defense system in the world, and perpetrating these atrocities under the control of a guy in a cave in Afghanistan were true, it would be a conspiracy theory, too. Indeed, it appears to be the one that is the most easily falsified of them all. So if we are going to discuss “the pivotal event” of the 21st Century, we are going to have to study conspiracy theories to determine which of them is true and which are false.
Parry claims that the Tucson gunman was affected by 9/11 truth and became enraged at images of Bush and Cheney, who, as we all know, lied to us about the reasons for attacking Afghanistan and later Iraq. There were no weapons of mass destruction; Saddam Hussein was not seeking yellowcake from Niger; and Iraq was not in cahoots with al Qaeda. Indeed, Bush himself would eventually admit that Saddam had nothing to do with 9/11, just as our own FBI has acknowledged that it has “no hard evidence” connecting Osama to the 9/11 attacks. For those who want to learn more about the truth of 9/11, I arranged for a symposium in London this past summer, which was held at Friends House on 14 July 2010. You can view our presentations, including “Are Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan justified by 9/11?”, here. Everyone who knows the truth should be angry with the Bush and Cheney administration, which has lied to us about it. But there is no reason to think that any of this had had anything to do with the Tucson event, where the difference between someone's interest in 9/11 and their reasons for acting as they do requires more careful discrimination.
Jim Fetzer, a former Marine Corps officer who earned his Ph.D. in the history and the philosophy of science, is McKnight Professor Emeritus on the Duluth campus of the University of Minnesota. He co-edits assassinationresearch.com with John P. Costella and is, most recently, the editor of The Place of Probability in Scienceˆ, his 29th book.
