March 4, 2009. The Vatican Newspaper has recently released a collection of waffle reciepes that have met with the approval of Pope Benedict XVI and much of the Roman Curia.
"These reciepes have been reviewed with much contemplation and thought. I have great hope that all Catholics will benefit both spiritually and physically by partaking in their consumption" reported L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO. His Holiness made the comments while traveling throughout Africa and the comments were seen as helping to smooth over earlier comments made by the Pope regarding AIDs and condom use in Africa.
Many reacted to the Pope's comments with joy.
"For so long I had been worried that consuming Eggo Waffles was somehow sinful because they were pre-packaged and that they were not a natural product of my own labor and materials. Benedict has restored my faith and I look forward to breakfast tomorrow morning!" said one man outside an IHOP in Northern Virginia.
Some Catholics however, have seen this step by the Vatican as overreaching, while others have said it does not go far enough. Fr. Kung, a well know dissenter in the ranks of the Catholic Priesthood, decried the index as just another example of "Vatican medeling". Meanwhile, the head of the recently restored Society of Saint Pius X, said the Pope should do more in guiding the faithful towards proper breakfast foods, especially during this time of Lent.
The United States College of Bishops has realesed it's own statement, stating that a full implimentation of the index will not go into effect until 2012, after they have given time to review the list, and determine the best ways to ensure the index well benefit the faithful.
According to Church historians, the list began under John Paul the Great in 1995, and that John Paul the Great relied heavily on then Cardinal Ratzinger and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to ensure the index was theologically sound and in accord with Vatican II documents.
Here is a sample of some of the Receipes that were included in the index posted by L'OSSERVATORE ROMANO;
Whole Grain Blueberry Waffles
Apple Cinnamon Waffles
Apple Waffles
Applesauce Waffles
Bacon Cheddar Waffles
Bacon Swiss Waffles
Bacon-Cornmeal Waffles
Banana Cinnamon Waffles
Banana Oatmeal Buttermilk Waffles
Banana Sour Cream Waffles
Banana Split Waffles
Banana Waffles With Pecan Maple Syrup
Belgian Coconut Waffles
Best Chocolate Chip Waffles
Best Peanut Butter Waffles
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Pill Inventor Slams...of all things...the pill!
http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=11004
Perhaps a bigger irony than when Roe of Roe v. Wade came out against the very court decission that is her namesake, one of the three chemists responsible for the creation of "the pill" has recently declared that his invention has created "demographic catastrophe."
Perhaps the logic that population declines usually preceed the failure of a culture/civilization might start to click for more westerners. The U.S. is only barely better than Western Europe, ... and that is through immigration and not natural increase (even with our teen pregnancy rates which are always lauded as more reason for more contraception and legality of abortion). Most European countries are moving into negative population growth, and France most recently has implimented a government funded system which will pay women to be mothers of more than one child (I believe the more children they have, the greater the tax breaks they are given, in addition to other government support).
History is always a good way to test how thing in the political/social play out. Within the Roman Empire, high rates of abortion and contraception among the native Roman population (who were the greatest benificiaries of the Empire) while freeing the husbands and wives for more social and political activities, reduced the number of native born Romans, which led to a decline among native Romans in the military, which combined with the Imperial Throne moving to Constantinople, left the Western Empire (which encompassed pretty much all hat is Western Europe; irony?) to resort to foriegn mercinaries...and history shows us how effective that was!
Much of the significance of this comes on the 40th Anniversary of Humane Vitae (as the link to the article makes known); Pope Paul VI is lauded as being prophetic in his encyclical, where he reaffirmed the classic stance of the Church against artificial contraception and abortion. Both not only violate the most fundamental right to life, but they have the added dibilitating effect upon society on a larger scale. Less people leads to less creativity, art, literature, philosophy, industry, whatever you name it. A civilization literally kills itself off, preventing growth in all areas.
What perhaps makes this even more bizzare is that with abortion and artifical contraception, there has been a rise in invitro fertilization, and other extra-natural means of procreation. In effect, pregnancy is something unwanted unless it can be controlled to the point where it can only take place where and when we want it to, and anything else is an inconvience. Now the number of people who can actually take advantage of all these technologies prevents it currently from having and even larger impact; only the very wealthy can afford the total trinity of birth control. But considering that healthcare will no doubt be turning into one of our inaleinable rights with the incoming administration, access to such technologies might increase, and one thing I have learned as a budding historian is not to place your faith in humanity.
In his "Abolition of Man" C.S. Lewis was convinced that the advent of such technologies, coupled with a moral relativism that was growing during his own time (and is taken for granted in our own; though most people straddle the fence and are only relative until something directly effects them, then morals suddenly become objective realities again) would lead to humanity not only conquering nature through science, but humanity conquering itself. Humanity would have everything controled, even it's own body chemistry.
The funny thing about what Mr. Lewis said almost 60 years ago, was that the things he feared (which sounded to many like science fiction) are quire real. Lewis saw the "abolition of human nautre" as the end result of our push to control. With no doubt in the coming decades, not only will we see people able to control when they have children, but they will no doubt be controling how the children biologically turn out. It will of course start with the good intentions of ending certain dibilitating diseases that are genetic in nature, but why stop at preventing the bad, when you can also encourage the good? Why should we even stay as limited as we are, when we no doubt at some point will be able to improve our bodies and minds beyond their limits as they are?
Of course, would we still be human anymore?
Perhaps a bigger irony than when Roe of Roe v. Wade came out against the very court decission that is her namesake, one of the three chemists responsible for the creation of "the pill" has recently declared that his invention has created "demographic catastrophe."
Perhaps the logic that population declines usually preceed the failure of a culture/civilization might start to click for more westerners. The U.S. is only barely better than Western Europe, ... and that is through immigration and not natural increase (even with our teen pregnancy rates which are always lauded as more reason for more contraception and legality of abortion). Most European countries are moving into negative population growth, and France most recently has implimented a government funded system which will pay women to be mothers of more than one child (I believe the more children they have, the greater the tax breaks they are given, in addition to other government support).
History is always a good way to test how thing in the political/social play out. Within the Roman Empire, high rates of abortion and contraception among the native Roman population (who were the greatest benificiaries of the Empire) while freeing the husbands and wives for more social and political activities, reduced the number of native born Romans, which led to a decline among native Romans in the military, which combined with the Imperial Throne moving to Constantinople, left the Western Empire (which encompassed pretty much all hat is Western Europe; irony?) to resort to foriegn mercinaries...and history shows us how effective that was!
Much of the significance of this comes on the 40th Anniversary of Humane Vitae (as the link to the article makes known); Pope Paul VI is lauded as being prophetic in his encyclical, where he reaffirmed the classic stance of the Church against artificial contraception and abortion. Both not only violate the most fundamental right to life, but they have the added dibilitating effect upon society on a larger scale. Less people leads to less creativity, art, literature, philosophy, industry, whatever you name it. A civilization literally kills itself off, preventing growth in all areas.
What perhaps makes this even more bizzare is that with abortion and artifical contraception, there has been a rise in invitro fertilization, and other extra-natural means of procreation. In effect, pregnancy is something unwanted unless it can be controlled to the point where it can only take place where and when we want it to, and anything else is an inconvience. Now the number of people who can actually take advantage of all these technologies prevents it currently from having and even larger impact; only the very wealthy can afford the total trinity of birth control. But considering that healthcare will no doubt be turning into one of our inaleinable rights with the incoming administration, access to such technologies might increase, and one thing I have learned as a budding historian is not to place your faith in humanity.
In his "Abolition of Man" C.S. Lewis was convinced that the advent of such technologies, coupled with a moral relativism that was growing during his own time (and is taken for granted in our own; though most people straddle the fence and are only relative until something directly effects them, then morals suddenly become objective realities again) would lead to humanity not only conquering nature through science, but humanity conquering itself. Humanity would have everything controled, even it's own body chemistry.
The funny thing about what Mr. Lewis said almost 60 years ago, was that the things he feared (which sounded to many like science fiction) are quire real. Lewis saw the "abolition of human nautre" as the end result of our push to control. With no doubt in the coming decades, not only will we see people able to control when they have children, but they will no doubt be controling how the children biologically turn out. It will of course start with the good intentions of ending certain dibilitating diseases that are genetic in nature, but why stop at preventing the bad, when you can also encourage the good? Why should we even stay as limited as we are, when we no doubt at some point will be able to improve our bodies and minds beyond their limits as they are?
Of course, would we still be human anymore?
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Test Blog?
Does this thing even work? And if it does, what good does it serve other than potentially exposing more people to my rambles which may or may not be healthy for them?
Oh heck I have a bad feeling about this...
Oh heck I have a bad feeling about this...
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