Month: August 2010

Krauthammer: Sacrilege at Ground Zero

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Source: National Review Online

A place is made sacred by a widespread belief that it was visited by the miraculous or the transcendent (Lourdes, the Temple Mount), by the presence there once of great nobility and sacrifice (Gettysburg), or by the blood of martyrs and the indescribable suffering of the innocent (Auschwitz).

When we speak of Ground Zero as hallowed ground, what we mean is that it belongs to those who suffered and died there — and that such ownership obliges us, the living, to preserve the dignity and memory of the place, never allowing it to be forgotten, trivialized, or misappropriated.

That’s why Disney’s early ’90s proposal to build an American history theme park near Manassas Battlefield was defeated by a broad coalition fearing vulgarization of the Civil War (and wiser than me; at the time I obtusely saw little harm in the venture). It’s why the commercial viewing tower built right on the border of Gettysburg was taken down by the Park Service. It’s why, while no one objects to Japanese cultural centers, the idea of putting one up at Pearl Harbor would be offensive.

Read the entire article on the National Review Online website.

Judge Vaughn Walker, The Solomon of San Francisco

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Buchanan nails it.

Source: VDARE

By Patrick J. Buchanan

Judge Vaughn Walker

Peering at the 14th Amendment, Walker found something there the authors of the amendment never knew they put there, and even the Warren Court never found there: The states of the Union must recognize same-sex marriages as equal to traditional marriage.

With his discovery, Walker declared Proposition 8, by which 5.5 million Californians voted to prohibit state recognition of gay marriage, null and void. What the people of California voted for is irrelevant, said Walker; you cannot vote to take away constitutional rights.

If the Walker decision is upheld by the Ninth Circuit and Supreme Court, homosexual marriage will be imposed on a nation where, in 31 out of 31 state referenda, the people have rejected it as an absurdity.

This is not just judicial activism. This is judicial tyranny.

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Judging Marriage: Proposition 8 Struck Down

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What is at stake:

Even though his ruling isn’t surprising, his dismissal of the opinions of the people of California and five thousand-plus years of human tradition is breath-taking. Then again, inasmuch as Walker is one of the few openly gay federal judges, maybe his dismissal shouldn’t shock us, either.

Let’s be clear. What’s at stake here goes beyond California and even beyond marriage itself. The reasoning that overturned California’s law, that said that the right of gays to marry is a fundamental constitutional right, would, if applied nationally, overturn similar laws throughout the country.

As Pastor Jim Garlow, who led the Proposition 8 campaign, points out, it would be a mistake to think that the battle about the definition of marriage is only over marriage—disastrous as that is. A loss on this issue will have devastating consequences for our personal freedoms.

Source: Breakpoint

Listen here:

Charles Colson

I have warned you for months that our religious freedoms are imperiled. Well, Armageddon may be close at hand if a new court decision holds up.

Yesterday, federal district court Judge Vaughn Walker, a Reagan appointee, overturned California’s Proposition 8, which defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

While the immediate impact is limited to the state of California, the consequences of this egregious bit of judicial overreach threatens to be nationwide.

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George Demos: We Must Rebuild Orthodox Church at Ground Zero

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HT: Onet Blog

Greek-American Conservative Republican Candidate for Congress in the First District of New York George Demos appeared on Fox News recently. Demos called on The Port Authority’s Executive Director Chris Ward to immediately stop his bureaucratic roadblocks and that the rebuilding of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church at Ground Zero must be a top priority.

Demos stated that it was disgraceful that the Port Authority of New York/ New Jersey reniged on a deal with Church officials and for over a year has refused to meet with the leaders of the only house of worship actually destroyed on September 11, 2001. Demos noted that our government is spending billions of dollars to rebuild the infrastructure of Ground Zero, yet no plan exists for rebuilding the Church. Demos reiterated that our Judeo-Christian values are under attack in our nation and that rebuilding the Church transcends any particular denomination.

Demos also renewed his call to investigate the sources of funding for the newly proposed mosque near Ground Zero, given the serious questions about the background of the mosque proponents.

Demos concluded that we owe it to the memory of the 3,000 victims of September 11, 2001 including the 168 from Suffolk County; many of whom prayed at St. Nicholas, to rebuild the Church.

Source: Greek Reporter

Orthodoxy appears more comprehensible and close to many English people

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Source: Interfax

Archpriest Michail Dudko

Metropolitan Anthony (Bloom) of Sourozh passed away seven years ago on August 4, 2003. He founded a unique Russian Orthodox diocese in Great Britain and united not only Russian natives, but thousands of English believers. Even Prince Charles came to his church services. The number of parishioners is still growing as new Russian immigrants are joining them. Sacristan of the Dormition Cathedral in London Archpriest Michail Dudko tells Interfax-Religion correspondent Yelena Verevkina how the parish has changed, what difficulties its members have to face and how juvenile justice interfered in the parochial life.

Russian oligarchs and elite have chosen England as a favorite place of residence. How actively do they participate in life of your parish and diocese? Do you remember having problems with Russian law-enforcement agencies taking into account that Russian police are waiting for some London parishioners with handcuffs?

I think you’re exaggerating… Certainly, quite different people participate in life of our big parish, but I personally don’t ask them anything except their name when they come to confess. Some people want to tell the priest about their life and problems, but it happens only when they confide in the priest. I can’t say for sure how many “elite” parishioners visit our services, but basing on general assumptions, there should be some. However, such parishioners don’t usually show off and our ideas of who is who at our parish are very vague.

Besides, London is a very big city. It remind me of villagers after the Soviet revolution who used to ask their fellow villager on his return from the capital: “Been to Moscow? Seen Lenin?” Now I’m in a similar situation. People always ask me about oligarchs. All for nothing. While recent tour of the Bolshoi Theatre extended our “elite” flock for some time. Actors came to the service, communed, prayed.

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