+ + + Sign of the Crossing + + +

[I do not know Hebrew, and I am not a Scripture scholar.  But I know a little …] Last night (8/18/14), I was dragged into a debate about immigration.  (Dragged?  A friend of a friend said that liberal arguments for immigration reform are empty-headed nonsense, and he enjoyed exposing them.  I found that nigh on irresistible.) The host to the brawl was Tom Furtado, a good friend from decades ago.  Tom and I were arrested and jailed together.  And when I wrote my first book about eugenics (Roots of Racism and Abortion, once again available through Amazon or Kindle) Tom got me to write it as a textbook for a one-semester class for high school students.  Tom’s a great friend, with a big gentle heart, a beautiful wife, and a million kids. In the debate last night, I argued that current immigration restrictions are unjust, incompatible with the teaching of the Catholic Church (my opponent was a Catholic), and completely incompatible with the forceful tea...

August 6, 2014. Anniversary of Hiroshima, and the Feast of the Transfiguration Today Christians recall the incident in which Jesus invited three friends up a mountain, where they saw him changed (Greek: metamorphosed; Latin: transfigured).  His appearance changed: specifically, his face shone and his clothes turned white.  They saw him at home among friends focused on the Law and the Prophets -- that is, in conversation with Moses and Elijah -- although the account does not specify how the Peter&James&John recognized two men they had never met in person.  Peter offered to capture the moment, by setting up tents for everyone to hang around for awhile.  Then God spoke up, and the three were scared into silence.  Jesus told them to get up (to “rise”), and they looked around (“raised their eyes”), and found things returned to apparent familiarity.  Jesus told them not to talk about what they had seen until they had a context for the event (until he “r...