Thoughts on the world of open source
I’ve always liked this song and today it seems more poignant than every. Peace to everyone even those who love and worship war. Peace to the weapon makers! Peace to those who hate! Peace in the season of the Prince of Peace!
May all the weapons be turned into plowshares.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7wEctHyuc0]
Today is the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. I read just yesterday that the feast began in 1854. Protestants and the Eastern Church don’t recognize the feast, but it’s dogma in the Roman Church. It’s too bad that the dogma of more Christian churches doesn’t include the Sermon on the Mount and the phrase, “love your enemies, do good to those who persecute you.” Somehow we’ve managed to excise that from dogma. It’s perfectly okay to kill your enemies as long as you observe dogma. The mother of Christ will always hold a special place in my heart, “the lady” as I call her always seems to intercede and there can be no doubt that Mary’s presence in the Roman Catholic Church reaffirms the sacred feminine, even if women are not allowed to be priests as they should be. Alas, that is more dogma.
Today I came across a story of healing for a Vietnam war veteran who was so traumatized by that experience that he still bore the scars thirty years after the fact. I sent that story on to some friends today. I read the entire book three Christmases ago. Now, we learn that our president wants to start another war. He’s saying the that we need to bring peace through bombs and bullets. Its just pure bull. Continue reading “Non-violence or non-existence”
I just visited Brother David Steindl-Rast’s site and this is a great video and commentary from an old friend.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-LlXHPBhC4]
On Friday, October 26, Franz Jaegerstaetter, an Austrian conscientious objector during World War II, will be beatified. I have written about Franz in the past and he continues to be a person of interest for me. He was light in a sea of darkness. More information from PaxChristi USA.
One of my best friends told me today he preferred to read about the three eared rabbit and less about Iraq. I haven’t seen my dear three eared friend in a couple of months which makes me wonder if he’s been eaten by one of the darned cats in our neighborhood. Continue reading “Three eared rabbits and such”
As we ramp up to yet another war. Here is one of my favorite ballads by one of the greatest voices in Motown history. Suppose they gave a war and no one came. Imagine the day when universal health care is fully funded and the Pentagon has to hold bake sales to build bombs.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ35qNXmRJE]
It sometimes happens that the men who preach most vehemently about evil and the punishment of evil, so that they seem to have practically nothing else on their minds except sin, are really unconcious haters of other men. They think the world does not appreciate them, and this is their way of getting even.–Thomas Merton, Seeds of Contemplation.
This quote struck me once again tonight as I pondered the ramifications of the U.S. Senate’s recent vote to pass the Kyl-Lieberman amendment Continue reading “Merton and morality”