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You said:
“I am saying that the subject of this persons or ***any clergy members*** gender is irrelevant.”
That very much sounds like you are advocating for a person of any sex to fill any clerical role in the Catholic church.

When asked to clarify you just kept repeating that priests are supposed to be celebate. This article holds this transgender person to be a “Brother”, not a priest, so of course some were confused as to your point. It took several requests to get you to finally explain adequately what you were trying to say. Blaming others for your lack of clarity is childish.

This situation is an attack on the Catholic church, and you have no right to try to quash a discussion about it, especially in the Catholic caucus. You may wish to be silent about these things, but this article needs to be seen so real Catholics can speak out against it.

Love,
O2

Nope, shrugger is fine. The hand on the other one is about twice as dark as the hair. Looks like somebody is smacking her in the eye. The things I notice....

Thanks for playing :-D

Why does your apparently white person face-palm emoji have a brown hand??

Sorry, can’t unsee it....

Love,
O2

:-)

“Matson, who is also a Benedictine oblate, believes he is the first openly transgender person in his position in the Catholic Church.”

You keep saying “irrelevant”, but I don’t think that word means what you think it means.

Are you saying that the article is irrelevant because these people are not acting like Catholics so can’t claim to be Catholic so we should just ignore them? Or because this doesn’t involve a priest and sexuality only matters for priests? Or that it is OK for someone to be in a religious order who is openly advocating for transgenderism as long as they are celebate?

This is an attack from on the Catholic church from within. The Catholic church specifically prohibits transexuals from marriage, ordination, and religious life. Your constant referral to celibacy of priests is irrelevant to this article since this person (I can’t look at that picture and use either pronoun) is not a priest, but is championing the idea that a transgender person should be able to join a religious order opposite their biological sex.

Scandal in this context is not gossip or discussing unpleasant information. Scandal is leading others astray, which is what this person and this ordained Catholic bishop are doing. It is not scandal to try to stop people from doing that even if it involves having to discuss salacious or otherwise unpleasant facts.

If you are trying to defend the Catholic church by saying this article is beneath discussion, you might want to clarify that, because that is not how you are coming across. It looks more like you are saying it is OK for a Catholic religious to be supported by a bishop to proclaim their deviant sexual proclivities as long as they are not a priest.

I’ve been trying to be polite, but my patience is wearing thin, so please clarify why you are so against this discussion.

Thanks,
Love,
O2

This article made me think that if this had been a white boy there would be outrage because “racist”.

That gives me an idea that a way to hasten the demise of this ridiculous farce would be to have a bunch of white boys infiltrate a black girls team of some sort and take all of the spots. Maybe better, a bunch of white men join the WNBA. 😁

Love,
O2

I said “arguably” in the context of this thread.

In reality, there really is no argument that this person’s gender confusion is indeed relevant. I’m assuming because they refer to this person as a “transgender man” that is an actual woman presenting as a man.

In that case, this person took vows under false pretenses, knowing that they were female but claiming to be male. They joined a male vocation knowing that they were not male. They knowingly deceived their order. This alone disqualifies them from continuing to participate in that order and vocation.

As I said, if they had never told anyone, and no one had ever discovered it, the church would have no obligation or ability to remedy it. In that case you could argue that transgenderism was irrelevant, but only in the context of there being no public scandal to correct.

But that also means that this person would have been living a life that they entered into under false circumstances, and that definitely is relevant to their eternal salvation.

In the Catholic Church, gender is absolutely relevant to almost everything. Men are priests and deacons and brothers. Women are nuns, or hold other non-ordained positions. This is integral to the Catholic church’s structure, and is unchangeable. On that, you would be wise to admit that you are mistaken.

Gender dysphoria is a psychological disease. Transgenderism does not even exist because you cannot change your sex. Knowingly allowing someone with a delusional disorder to persist in it, or worse even encouraging it, is not loving, or helpful, or Christian.

Best stop digging and hop out of this hole.

Love,
O2

It was arguably irrelevant until it was publicized. Now it is scandal. Had this person lived out their life quietly in prayer and service, only God would have known of his (?) conflicts, confusion, and deception in choosing and living out his vocation.

Now that he has gone public, he is advertising and advocating rebellion against the teachings of the Catholic church. This cannot stand, and the church has not only the right but the obligation to publicly rebuke him because of these actions now.

God is merciful to all, and none of us can say will happen at final judgment to any particular person. The Bible, however, is quite clear on the fate of those who lead children astray, and this person has already admitted that they have influenced at least one confused young person in what’s likely a harmful way.

This person needs counseling, prayer, and guidance to live their life in a holy way without promoting their psychological disorder. They also need to be stopped by the church from advertising it and encouraging others to embrace deviant behaviors.

Just my two cents,
Love, O2

The Chosen is by all accounts not a retelling of the Bible. It is not meant to be authoritative, or an historical production. The creators have never claimed that that was their plan. The title “The Chosen”, is not referring to Jesus, but to his disciples. It shows us a very unique perspective as to what the disciples’ thoughts and experiences may have been.

Because of that, it cannot be purely biblical because there is very little in the Bible about the backgrounds of the disciples. They have a Catholic priest, a Messianic Rabbi, and a Protestant pastor as advisors. Of course they don’t all agree 100%, but there are changes made when one or the other find something contradictory or offensive.

No one should be referring to the chosen as a biblical authority, and if someone does, that would be a very good opportunity to explain to them why it isn’t and guide them to more reliable sources. It doesn’t mean nobody should watch it, or that doesn’t have some spiritual value.

I agree that the sermon on the Mount “rehearsal”, seemed a bit strange at first, but again the whole series is from the perspective of the disciples, so once you think that it is for Matthew’s sake, it makes sense.

I also liked the background on Peter as it related to the walking on the water scene. Of course it was entirely fictional, but it also makes sense that something was bothering Peter because he saw Jesus, whom he had already acknowledged was God, walking on water, and Peter said, “If you are who you say you are...” How could he see that, and question that Jesus was God?

As for the rainbow flag, it was explained that the crew are free to express what they want within reason. No rainbow banners or signs are allowed, but on personal property there are some patches, and the first rainbow in a video was not even noticed by the production crew. There are many hours of behind the scenes video shot, so for someone to see one more rainbow flag in one more background does not mean that the production is promoting LGBT, but it does say something about the people who are spending the time and energy to try to find a gotcha moment.

There are a lot of things in the chosen that I don’t agree with, but overall, it gives a new perspective and a fresh look at what the disciples may have been going through. I’ve not seen anything that is contrary to the Bible, although by their own admission they are elaborating. I think this is a wonderful way to bring people to the Bible, but shouldn’t be considered by anybody a substitute for it. The creators make no bones about agreeing with this.

If you don’t like it, don’t watch it. I think you will miss a good, creative, thought provoking supplement to the Bible and the history that we all know.

Just my two cents ,
Love,
02

I would venture to say that the number of emergency medicine physicians trained in abortion is near zero. Abortion is never a medical emergency. Delivery of a baby sometimes is. If a hospital has OB capabilities, all pregnant patients with emergencies are sent to the OB department. If not, even under EMTALA patients can be transferred to an appropriate facility, sometimes with an ER doctor in the ambulance. This is to give the baby the best chance of survival as well as the mother.

Performing a “proper” abortion would necessitate killing the baby before you delivered it. This takes time and “skills” that few, if any emergency physicians have or are willing to perform.

Obviously, this administration is not beyond trying to compel people do things they don’t want to do. This, however, will shut down emergency departments throughout the country. Emergency physicians as a group will not sign on for this, and hiring a separate practitioner to be available 24 hours a day in every facility would be cost prohibitive.

Just my two cents,
Love,
02

Hi, Kaw (and all)

I just took the plunge and decided to try drums as part of my bucket list. For anybody who doesn’t have a drum kit yet, I’d like to recommend highly an electronic set. Your drum kit will be able to teach you how to play the drums!

I found the Alesis nitro Max on sale at Guitar Center for just under $400, and it is definitely worth the money. The practice rhythms take you through very basic to more complicated steps in a very logical and easy-to-follow progression without anybody else watching, which is a wonderful thing for a fairly shy person like me.

Disadvantages of going electronic are that you don’t actually make drum sounds, so you would need a speaker system if you ever wanted to use it to perform.

Advantages are that you don’t actually make drum sounds, so if you have roommates or family members you can practice without disrupting the household. The sounds I hear in my headphones, though, are so good that I forget that I’m not making noise. The kit is also very compact, so it’s it’s in a corner of my bedroom which makes me much more likely to play it often.

There’s a lot of stuff available on the module that I have no idea what to do with yet. But I have to say that I am very, very satisfied with everything I’ve been able to do with this so far.

Just my two cents,
Love, 02

I read the post. It was meant to reassure parents that nothing bad came of this event. It was not insulting or hateful. In this time of “drag queen reading hours”, it was necessary.

It doesn’t identify the person, the date, or the book, or that the guest was the author of the book. During Reading Month there could have been many people who were invited to read to the kids. The author is the one who linked himself to and publicized the post that he claims humiliated and degraded him.

Drama. Queen.

My $0.02
Love.
O2

Many parish priests don’t have immediate oversight over the schools associated with their parish, but do offer guidance to the principals and administrators. As per the article (yes, I know, I actually read it), the pastor did not invite him, the author’s friend the Pre-K teacher did. That was her mistake. Being a friend of the author, she likely knew he was not only gay, but “gay married” to another man, which is a scandal in the Catholic church. I doubt she told adminstration that she was inviting a publicly practicing homosexual to read to young kids. I also doubt that this man is as famous as he thinks he is, so no, “everybody” (in administration at least) didn’t know those little details of his life. But apparently some parishioners or parents were familiar with him, and notified the pastor after the fact.

All people who instruct children at Catholic Schools are considered to be lay ministers to them and are required to live according to Catholic teaching. Being in a public gay relationship is a scandal, and people in those positions will not be allowed to interact with Catholic school children. This has been upheld in many courts.

As it was, these kids were too young to understand, but there was still risk of scandal if other older students, parents, or parishioners thought that the school was cool with openly gay people interacting with kids. The priest wrote a very generic post, reassuring parents lest they think that drag queen readings might be forthcoming.

He didn’t mention the author’s name, his homosexuality, the book, or even that the reader was the author of a book at all. Was this guy the only guest reader during National Reading Month? How did he know the priest was referring to him?

As for your particular obscession with pedophile priests, that doesn’t have any bearing on this particular event. Just because a wrong has been done, doesn’t mean other wrongs should be allowed.

My $0.02
Love,
O2

Oops, I forgot the link...

https://rumble.com/v4hm6c6-live-ga-senate-hears-testimony-from-ashleigh-merchant-in-fani-willis-hearin.html

In the Georgia hearing today it was brought up that Wade said he put his contract money into his law business account. Apparently that is a big no-no as that’s just supposed to be client money like retainers and awards. My understanding that this is not taxed as income until it comes out when the lawyers bill for work or get their share of an award. Putting earnings in there even temporarily is not allowed and opens Wade up for IRS problems.

If you haven’t watched that hearing, it is worth the time. Ashleigh Merchant knows EVERYTHING and they let her speak freely. The dem at the end was annoying but the chairman let Merchant have the last word.

Love,
O2

We had the electric ones with the golf ball type heads at school, but at home we had one of those big black manual ones. Oh, and the dreaded typing eraser!

Love,
O2

I remember it as, “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” High school typing ~1977 :-)

(no emojis then)

Love,
O2

Where are the misinformation police for articles like this?

This patient was treated exactly correctly by the first hospital. They checked hormone (hcg) levels and did an ultrasound. They didn’t miss the ectopic. A return in 48 hours is standard care when the baby is small and hcg is low as there is minimal risk of rupture. Often the baby will not survive and hcg levels will not be rising. Surgery would not be necessary in those cases.

The patient appears not to have followed up at the same facility in the recommended 48 hours. I of course have not read the entire article, but I see no mention of how long she delayed her own care before going to a different hospital.

Propaganda, propaganda, propaganda...

My $0.02

Love, O2

My two favorite sayings about the attacks on the Church lately are “Be gone! You have no power here” and “This too shall pass.”

And I pray lots of rosaries.

Love,
O2

PS. Extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist, who are becoming much too ordinary IMHO.

I looked at the beginning of this video, but cannot bring myself to watch the rest. It is clear that the priest and clergy did not know that this was going to happen until it was underway. They didn’t expect the hijacking of the beginning of the service or the theatrical performance that ensued. IMHO, there is no way that the elderly priest knew ahead of time who this person was, let alone that he wasn’t a she. The friends of the deceased admitted that they weren’t forthcoming about that little detail.

Funerals are not researched and investigated like weddings or other sacraments. People are given the benefit of the doubt and if someone says the deceased was a Catholic woman who wanted a Catholic funeral, that is going to be accepted.
Once the mass was underway, I’m not sure how it could have been stopped without causing a “hissy fit” for lack of a better term.

Should the priest just have walked away? Probably, but in this case, given the size and composition of the “audience” present, I think he was “damned if he did (see “hissy fit” above) and damned if he didn’t (see Church-condemning comments here). The immediate plans to rededicate the church are a good sign that this was not condoned.

This particular event should be taken as an attack on the Catholic church, and should draw the condemnation of the people who orchestrated this farce, not the people who were fooled by it.

I know there are priests who sinfully support the alphabet agenda, and I will fight against those wherever I find them, but this does not appear to be one of those cases.

In the long run, God will not be mocked, and the gates of hell will not prevail. Trying to deceive God and His Church into bestowing blessings is a dangerous practice, so I will pray for the deceased and all of the people who participated in this deception as well as for those who were fooled by it.

My 0.02
Love,
O2

I seem to recall reading many years ago that it was an opium den.

O2