"Environmental Literacy" Required To Graduate From MD High Schools

This past Tuesday, the Maryland Board of Education voted to require that each student be "environmentally literate" before they graduate from high school.   Let me translate - the progressive lemmings who control the Board of Education have dictated that all students be brain-washed into parrotting the junk science known as environmentalism.

Meanwhile, kids are graduating school without decent foundatons in real subject matter.  If I had displayed such poor language skills as do many of today's high school graduates, I would have flunked fourth grade.  Why not teach the kids to read and write a proper sentence?  How about focusing more on math, biology, physics, history (and not the politically-correct variety)?  How about a basic civics course, so that kids actually know how the government works?

By the way - John Dewey, for better or worse (and I think it's worse), is regarded as "the father of modern education".  Well, he certainly did put modern public education in an adversarial role to true education.  Google his name.  I did so and saw this.  Notice how one of the bullet points says "Regarded education in a democracy as a tool to enable the citizen to integrate his or her culture and vocation usefully."  In other words, Dewey saw education as a tool to brainwash pupils into being docile little puppets who would blindly follow the flow of "his or her culture", "culture" of course being the progressive, politically-correct gestapo known as "government" today.  Of course, Maryland is one of the leading liberal la-la lands in the USA today, thanks to the left-leaning progressives who prowl the State House and legislative buildings.  They love environmentalism, as it is a perfect vehicle by which they may encroach into our lives.  This latest move of the Board of Education stems directly from Dewey's vision of education.

I'd now like to direct your attention to an article written by Pat Buchanan, entitled "The Dumbing Down of America".  He focuses on the abysmal lack of knowledge of US history that so many students display today.  I for one think such ignorance is intended, so that students remain unaware of their national heritage; thus, they would be more likely to disregard their national past in favor of progressive machinations.

Such is the People's Republic of Maryland!

Vortex Weighs In On Corapi's Back-Biters

Well said, Mr. Voris!  Click here if you can't see embedded video.

Rockefellers - Key Players In Culture Of Death

Michael Voris's "Catholic Investigative Agency" has released a 33-minute clip regarding the prominent Rockefeller family.  It delves into:

• The Rockefellers' dalliance with the eugenics movement
• Their partership with Fr Hesbergh (of Notre Dame infamy) to compromise Catholic education
• Their promotion of "one-world government" via the United Nations and subsidiary organizations
• Their promotion and exploitation of environmentalism to further one-world government and population control

Real Catholic TV has catalogued their source material for this clip; it can be found here. 

If you can't see the embedded video, click here.

Catholic University Faces Lawsuit - For Being (Gasp!) Catholic

Last week I heard the news that Catholic University was restoring its policy of housing men and women in separate buildings.  To be honest, my first reaction was "Restored??  I didn't know its dorms had gone coed!"  However, I did welcome the news that a Catholic institution was actually reinforcing some Catholic morality.

Comes now the news that some progressive law professor from George Washington University heard about this and bunched his undies over this announcement.  To be fair to John Banzhaf, the CU move is quite - dare I say it? - politically incorrect!  Banzhaf, on his own website, claims to be such a champion of "equal bathroom access" that he calls himself (drum roll, please)..

FATHER OF POTTY PARITY!

Who can make up this stuff?  I think, for the sake of brevity, we'll call him Poppa-Potty!  At any rate, CU has no concerns about the legality or constitutionality of its decision.  I for one commend CUA president John Garvey for taking this step.

Maureen Dowd Gets It Right??

Well, stranger things have happened!  To put it in context, she was arguing against the Church's opposition to gay "marriage", but she did make clear that the hierarchy's harboring of gay priests compromised their moral authority.  On that last point, I must agree.  So does the Vortex.  Click here if you can't see embedded video.

The Corapi Situation

As most know by now, Father John Corapi was accused by an unidentified woman of "abusing" her.  I won't rehash that entire history here; you can read it on his new blog.  At any rate, his faculties were suspended and it seemed that he was given no rights whatsoever to defend himself.  Agree with this or not, John Corapi has decided to forego public ministry as a priest.

As you read through the comments, you'll notice a variety of mindsets.  There are those who state quite plainly that they always believed he was an egotistical fraud.  These adolescents don't deserve the time of day.  There are those who understand why he's chosen the route that he did.  While I have no basis of opining on his guilt or innocense, I do know that the hierarchy's investigative processes are fatally flawed.  He didn't stand a snowball's chance in hell of obtaining fair treatment.

Then there are those who I might call the sappy petulant whiners, waxing oh-so-sanctimoneous in their disappointment in Corapi's decision.  I'll try to sum it up in a hypothetical paragraph: "Oh Father, why didn't you submit?  Our Lord is trying to purify you!  Perhaps He wants you to engage in contemplation!  You should submit even as He was scourged!  You must learn humble submission"  As I read all this, I thought of how Our Lord denounced the Pharisees who sought to lay heavy burdens and not lift a finger to help.  They seem to want Corapi to fall on a sword for them so that they can "be edified" from afar.  With "friends" like those, who needs enemies?

An important note - I am neither theologian nor canon lawyer.  I've no knowledge about Corapi's innocence or guilt.  On the other hand, I don't think that the other few hundred folks who've commented have any more credentials than do I.

Today Corapi announced that he filed for civil damages for defamation.  Before there's any self-righteous sniffing about him "taking the low road" or other such nonsense, let's consider two things.  First, let's consider how scandalous it is that Corapi would have to seek relief from a civil court as opposed to canonical court.  Second, he did this on the advice of both Bishop (Emeritus) Rene Gracida and the founder of his religious society.  By the way - I commend to your reading a post by Bishop Gracida, as he sheds much-needed light on this situation from a bishop's vantage point.

Archdiocese Of Boston Allows "Gay Pride Celebration" Mass

The buck stops with Cardinal O'Malley in regards to this travesty.  I cannot believe that he did not give permission for this blasphemy to go forward.  If he didn't, he must stand up forcefully and resolutely now and defend his flock from this scandal.  If he doesn't, he will forfeit any and all moral authority as a bishop, perhaps irrevokably.  He will have betrayed his solemn vows as bishop.  He will have in fact opened the sheep gate to the wolves.

St Cecelia has been given permission by the Archdiocese of Washington Boston (thank you anonymous for typo correction) to resume plans for their blasphemous celebration inside a Catholic church.  Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament will be subjected to all manners of abuse.  It will be much like the buffets and spitting that He endured during His Passion and death.  A sin that "cries out to heaven" will be celebrated during the Mass.  So what can be expected at this Mass?  Will there be behavior and scenes such as these inside the Church?

A few good Catholics in Boston have been speaking up.  However, there should be a deafening outcry.  Where is it?

Radical Imam At St Rose of Lima Tomorrow

As I posted last week, a radical muslim imam is going to be delivering an address, at St Rose of Lima, on "Islam: A Religion of Peace or of Terrorism?"  If you haven't yet done so, please examine the links for the pertinent information about this man and his mosque.  Take special note of the laudatory comments he made regarding the Hamas operative at his mosque who was caught video-recording the supporting structures of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge - strange sort of hobby, wouldn't you say?  Take note that the Fort Hood shooter attended his mosque.

He also made the incredible statement that "you will see Islam move from being the second largest religion in America-that's where we are now- to being the first religion in America".  Did he suffer any repercussion?  Not at all!  In fact, on June 20th, a very naive parish and archdiocesan chancery are actually providing a forum and an audience so that he can lull good people into a rose-colored-glasses type of passivity regarding Islam.  That's quite unlike the violent rampaging that occurred in the name of jihad when Pastor Terry Jones stated his intention to burn a Qu'ran.

Speaking of Pastor Jones, he staged a protest at an Arab International Festival in Dearborn Michigan this past Friday.  Here's the local report, along with video.  Notice the reaction.  These "festival goers" aren't merely shouting at him.  They're actually shoving him, prompting the police to arrest at least some of them.  Of course there's the obligatory silent blaming of the "inflamatory language", but the reporters also state that they recognize some of the thugs as being too familiar, as though they may be "professional".

Pastor Terry Jones Rallies in Dearborn, Skips Arab Festival: MyFoxDETROIT.com

As I said in the previous post, the pastors of St Rose of Lima and the Archdiocese of Washington chancery should be ashamed of themselves for behaving as willing dupes.

Holy See Versus the United Nations

In February of 2010, I posted news about a bone-headed stunt that Catholic Charities of Albany was doing - spearheading a "needle-exchange program" for drug addicts.  I was reminded of this when I read that the Vatican has raised its voice against a similar act of stupidity underway at the United Nations, in the form of the UN General Assembly's Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS.  Read the words of Archbishop Francis Chillikatt.  In his statement, he emphasizes the Holy See's opposition to condom distribution and needle-exchange programs because they facilitate sinful and dangerous lifestyles.

It dawns on me that the Albany Catholic Charities mirrors the progressive-oriented United Nations more closely than it does the Magisterium.  Such seems to be the case with all three of the big so-called "catholyc" pass-through organizations: Catholic Campaign for Human Development, Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Charities.  I suggest complete cessation of contributions to these three organizations.  Rather than give to them, give directly to a charity that will uphold the Magisterium and use your contribution dollars wisely.

American Catholic Church - Too "American", Not Enough "Catholic"

Today's Vortex talks of nothing new.  This wrongly-placed emphasis in too many parishes and chanceries is a problem foreseen (and probably budding) during the pontificates of Leo XIII and Pius X.  Both popes wrote extensively about Americanism and Modernism (and progressivism).  A blogger names Brother Andre Marie delves into a bit about the relationships and contrasts of these problems.  On the sidebar I link to the Vatican site that contains the writings of the modern popes; the writings cited by Brother Andre can be found therein.

Click here if you can't see embedded video.