Catholicism

This is a hard time to be Catholic. Sure, there have been worse times: it's not as bad as when our country was first starting, for example: Catholics were openly persecuted here, then. And it's not nearly as bad here as it is in other countries right now, like China or Pakistan. In those place, the Church is suffering horribly; the price of being caught practicing the Faith is often imprisonment or death. I suspect, if the Church in America were to be subjected again to such persecution, it would quickly lose a whole lot of members.
A recent poll claimed that 59% of Catholics have no problem with Obama's decision to force tax payers to fund fetal stem cell research again. That sounds a little high to me, but it's possible. Years ago, polls were saying 1 in 3 Catholics thought using artificial birth control was ok, and about that many didn't believe in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, either.
So it doesn't surprise me that our diocese is going to have to close some churches in order to stay afloat. If somewhere between one-third to over one-half of people who call themselves Catholic are that far gone, they probably aren't attending Mass, anymore. Why should they?
The Church- the REAL Church- has been heading underground for a while now. We aren't there, yet, and we may never have to completely break off from the mainstream as they did in Russia when it became the USSR.
But there is already a transformation taking place within the Church, and it had its start in the fallout of Vatican II. It will continue, unless or until we get a pope who will address the Modernism, Radical Feminism, and other heresies that have infiltrated every part of the Church.
Meanwhile, real Catholics are making do. My kids attend an independent Catholic school that was started by homeschoolers. It presently does not receive any funding from the state or the diocese, and probably never will, since to do so requires allowing them to dictate our curricula. Our school is dedicated to providing a traditional, orthodox Catholic education to its students, and is doing a fine job of it.
Real Catholics are forming groups and supporting one another in engaging our society on issues such as the sanctity of human life and true social justice- not the cockamamie version the radical feminists have convinced too many Church leaders to embrace.
Real Catholics are not going to just give in when the government says we have to provide abortifacient birth control or abortion referrals- if not actual abortion, itself- or be put out of business. There is a higher law that mandates civil disobedience to unjust laws, as anyone who ever heard of the Civil Rights movement would agree.
It will be interesting, to say the least, to see how this all works out.

Is it just me...

...or has anyone else noticed that Wayne Dawson is starting to look like Little Richard?
I don't mean to be mean- I'm just wondering what the heck happened to his eyebrows. I don't watch tv news much anymore, so it was shocking to see the difference in his appearance since the last time I saw him.

Potty Talk, Part 2

Well, I bought a new plunger this morning at Walgreens. Only cost $4.49 + 7.75% tax- which is much cheaper than hiring a plumber. It was made in China, though, so I tested it before I bought it. It seemed pliable enough, and proved to be so, once I applied it- thank God. I mean that sincerely- I did pray a lot during my toils over the toilet. He finally heard and helped me, and it was a delight to hear once again the gurgle of the water flowing freely as I flushed.
My teenaged daughter will be relieved :)
And it only took about 50 flushes.

Life is going down the toilet (Potty Talk, Part 1)

It is my understanding that we have the environmentalists to thank for the plague of water-saving toilets that have been foisted upon us by law.
If it isn't the fault of the environmentalists, then this blog is directed at whoever IS to blame, and I suspect you know who you are. You're lucky I do not.
I just spent the last hour or so going in to apply the plumber's helper- better known as a plunger- to my POS toilet every few minutes, after the "water" drained enough to try flushing it again. This was the worst clog we've experienced yet; I am going to have to buy another plunger- I got a blister on my palm trying to use the POS one I have now, which was probably made in China.
One of things that ticked me off and totally grossed me out as I dealt with the clog was that, due to the shape of the bowl and the lousiness of the plunger, "water" splashed out numerous times, despite my best efforts to prevent it. But that's nothing new: one of the special features of these toilets is apparently a built-in stealth bidet. Too bad it uses water from the bowl. So the seat has to be wiped frequently; save water, kill more trees.
But the worst thing about them is the stupidity of forcing us to use them when they really don't save water at all. How can they possibly do that when they require at least 2 flushes to get rid of a normal-sized bowel movement? Plus they are so inefficient at flushing that they require cleaning far more frequently, so there goes more water. Not to mention, where I live, we don't usually need to conserve water. In fact, quite a few folks around here are probably wishing they could get rid of some, right about now. (Flooding is common here in the spring.)
If only I had known, when we replaced the original toilet, that there are far worse things than hard water stains.