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Unbelief in Our Culture Is More Serious Than Most Imagine – A Reflection on the First Commandment Msgr. Charles Pope • September 28, 2015 • But, frankly, all of us should be concerned at the rise of unbelief in our culture, whether it is atheism, agnosticism, indifference, or the rampant secularism that relegates God to a marginal place. We should be concerned because unbelief on a wide scale (as we are seeing today) is not only unhealthy for a culture, it is dangerous to it.This danger is fairly obvious when one considers that, in the end, unbelievers think they answer...

Oklahoma's Supreme Court ruled that a Ten Commandments display on the capitol grounds of Oklahoma City must be removed. In a 7-2 decision released Tuesday, the state's highest court concluded that the privately-funded 6-foot tall granite monument violates the Oklahoma constitution, which states, "No public ... property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated, or used, directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any ... system of religion ...." "Because the monument at issue operates for the use, benefit or support of a sect or system of religion, it violates Article 2, Section 5 of the Oklahoma Constitution...

Archdiocese of Washington A Picture of the Transformed Human Person – A Homily for the 3rd Sunday of Lent By: Msgr. Charles PopeThe first reading today contains the Ten Commandments and thereby communicates a brief but sweeping summary of the Christian and biblical moral vision. Too often, there is a tendency to reduce the Christian moral vision merely to a set of rules. And it is a sad fact that many resent the the Church for her “rules” because of this reductionist notion of our moral vision.To be fair, EVERY group and activity has rules. If you join a bowling league...

The Whole Law, standing on one foot! A Homily For the 30th Sunday of the year By: Msgr. Charles PopeThere was an expression common among the rabbis of Jesus’ time, wherein one rabbi would ask another a question, and request that the answer be given while “standing on one foot.” This is a Jewish way of saying, “Be brief in your answer.”And that sort of expression may be behind the question that is raised in today’s gospel by the scholar of law, who asks, “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”Just as an aside, it is likely that...

The following is an edited transcript of the audio. Are Christians under the 10 commandments? No. The Bible says we're not under the law. I love Romans 7:4-6. By way of analogy, it says that you are married to the law. And you better stay married because if you leave this husband and go marry another you are going to be called an adulterer. But if your husband dies, then you can go and remarry. And then Paul draws the analogy out—a little complex the way he does it—saying that you died to the law. You aren't married anymore, you...

The American Bible Society funds an annual “State of the Bible” survey, and this spring the Christian Post cheered some of their findings: “The Bible continues to dominate both mind space and book retail space as America’s undisputed best-seller.” According to the study, conducted by Barna, over 88 percent of American homes contain a Bible. In fact, the average is 4.7 copies per household. Now, I should note that a young non-religious friend once came home from school with a bright green Gideon’s New Testament that she later touted as a reserve of fine rolling papers, which may explain why...

One of my readers, we'll call him Moses, is the publisher of a mainstream newspaper in California. He wrote me the other day with an insightful observation. Since Moses works in one of the most liberal industries, in one of the most liberal states in the union, I won't divulge his real name. We don't want Moses tarred, feathered and banished to Oklahoma with a scarlet "C," for Christian, emblazoned on his Harris Tweed sport coat. (Note: I have antipathy toward neither Oklahoma – I once lived there – nor Harris Tweed, though I do recommend against wearing Harris Tweed...

Fix it or Forget it – It cannot be underestimated how important the family is for the very existence of society and civilization. The widespread breakdown of the family in our own time already shows the grave results that flow from such a breakdown. Can our civilization be secure or stable if such a breakdown is allowed to continue? The importance of the family for the life and well-being of society entails a particular responsibility for society to support and strengthen marriage and the family. Authority, stability, and a life of relationships within the family constitute the foundations for...

Legislative leaders in Oklahoma sought to ease public concern Monday over a plan by a group of satanists to erect a monument at the state Capitol. Both House Speaker T.W. Shannon and Senate President Pro Tem Brian Bingman suggested that such a plan was far from a reality, and members of the committee that would need to approve the monument sounded skeptical. But a constitutional law professor says the state could be on legally questionable ground if it rejects the New York-based Satanic Temple's request to put an homage to Satan near a Ten Commandments monument that's already at the...

Why aren’t we more concerned about how even many of our fellow Catholics are engaging in behaviors (“lifestyles”), or accepting, or even approving them, in others, that scripture says will exclude them from the kingdom?A soul being rescued from purgatory.Right after Vatican II, there was an explosion of interest in moral theology. The “fundamental option” theory gained wide notice in both scholarly journals and in popular Catholic culture. Many people got the impression—and many still have it—that if one’s overall life is pointed in a good direction, particular sinful acts may not exclude us from the kingdom. This interpretation was...

Few matters have initiated more litigation in the courts than the presence of Ten Commandments monuments and other displays of the Decalogue across the country located on public property. The presence of most of these is the result of a joint campaign by the Fraternal Order of Eagles, working with Hollywood Royalty and movie-magnate, the late great Cecil B. DeMille. Today the radical left has erroneously argued these displays are an unconstitutional violation of the "separation of church and state" and disparage them as nothing more than a publicity stunt by DeMille to hype his movie at the time, The...

MULDROW -- It was standing room only in the spacious Muldrow Public Schools cafeteria as hundreds of area residents crowded into a School Board meeting Monday to discuss the Ten Commandments plaques posted in each classroom for two decades. The plaques, which had been donated to the district in the early 1990s, were removed by Monday. Many attendees arrived in vehicles upon which Christian slogans were written or posted. Many wore clothing proclaiming their religious beliefs. Many teens attended, wearing black "Don't Quit for Christ" T-shirts. Several elderly attendees clutched Bibles. Attendees' ages ranged from infant through senior citizen. Muldrow...

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Roy Moore, forever known as Alabama’s Ten Commandments judge, has been re-elected chief justice in a triumphant political resurrection after being ousted from that office nearly a decade ago. Republican Moore defeated Jefferson County Circuit Judge Bob Vance, a Democrat, to win back his former office. “It’s clear the people have voted to return me to the office of chief justice,” Moore said. “I have no doubt this is a vindication. I look forward to being the next chief justice,” Moore told a crowd of sign-waving supporters. Moore thanked supporters at his party for sticking with him...

The Freedom From Religion Foundation, along with an anonymous parent and student on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the Connellsville Area School District seeking to have a Ten Commandments monument removed from Connellsville Junior High and to block its placement at a nearby church. In a lawsuit, the plaintiffs claimed constitutional violations with the religious marker at the public school and possible further infringement on their rights if the monument is relocated near district property. . . . Though the monolith would be on private property if moved to the church, the fact that the district is aware that the...

Speaks at Ten Commandments Rally in Atlanta Press Release September 29, 2003 Atlanta- A large gathering of supporters clapped and cheered as Herman Cain, conservative, Republican candidate for U.S. Senate, spoke at today's press conference in support of posting the Ten Commandments in public buildings. “The Ten Commandments are the basic principles upon which our forefathers founded this country,” Cain said. “If a community of United States citizens, does not have the right to display their values then what rights do they have? “One of the questions that I have for all of these people who appear to be outraged...

Today we see an age of anomie—lawlessness. The laws of God are being ignored and His commandments jettisoned. Indeed, it is a lawless age in which we live—reminiscent of what Jesus said in parable about what would come when He went off to a far country. The citizens would hate Him, and they would cry out, “We will not have this man to reign over us” (Luke 19:14). The great question before the nations is: Will men and nations submit to having Jesus Christ, the Divine Creator of the world reign over them? God’s purpose in this world is to...

Ten Commandments to return to Giles County schools [with poll] By Katelyn Polantz 381-1669 PEARISBURG -- The Ten Commandments will return to the walls of Giles County schools, after a school board majority vowed Tuesday to dig in for what could be a long and costly court battle. The board voted 3-2 Tuesday afternoon to rehang the Commandments among a display of nine other historical documents. About 50 people stayed silent while the board began its meeting. Many of the attendees have prayed and pressed for this outcome since the district first removed the documents from school halls in December...

The Supreme Court has passed up a chance to take another look at a six-year-old ruling that struck down the display of the Ten Commandments in two Kentucky courthouses. . . . But the court declined to do so Tuesday,

Can an atheist further the kingdom of God?  Can God take sin and use it for his glory? Genesis 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.Acts 2:22 Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye...