Perpetual Thursday (PT) is a log of Patrick J. Simmons' thoughts, ideas, opinions, commentary, doings, and so so forth. In short, rambling, ranting, nonsense, and bunk.
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I've got plenty to rant about today, but fear not: I've got a bit of fun to offset my news! Let's kick it all off the the news that's everywhere. No, really, it seems every news source has at least some note on this one: the Pope's comments! Now there is quite a lot of blabber floating out there for those of you who really want to read it up, but for those of you who haven't already heard the story, and don't want to look it up, I'll give a quick summary: the Pope gave a delightful speech at the University of Regensburg, Germany, during which he quoted a dialogue between Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Paleologus and 'an educated Persian' on the subject of Christianity and Islam. His quotes from the emperor included: "Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."
There were other anti-Muslim (esp. anti-jihad, or 'holy war') quotes as well, and none said without reason. The Pope's speech was a good one, (you can read the whole thing at Zenit.org) and was worst a read. Sadly, I'm not posting this because the Pope made good speech (lots of people make good speeches), I'm posting it because his speech has caused some problems. These problems take the form of massive throngs of Muslims calling for an apology. By, apology, of course, I mean that they wanted Pope Benedict's head on a platter, on fire, and with a spear shoved trough it. After the speech crowds of Muslims began gathering bearing signs with happy saying such as "Butcher Those Who Mock Islam." (Link is to kreuz.net, a German Catholic site, translated to English with Google.com.)
Of chouse, the Vatican backtracked almost instantly. (Link is to a CNN press statement from the Vatican.) That, in my opinion, is the sad part of this story. Why backtrack? What the Pope said was completely true. I'm not surprised at all, but I am disappointed by all this 'We're so sorry' nonsence. Sorry for what? For saying that Mohammed's teachings were "evil and inhuman?" (Heck, the pope didn't even say it first himself, he quoted it!) So what? Its TRUE, isn't it? This is where the Church seems to be at today, though. No more brave Crusades, only meek ecumenism.' Any outspoken truths are instantly apologized for. "We're so sorry someone stated what Catholics should (and once did) belive, we won't do it again. We love everybody, really, we do!"
I have a (possibly-vain) half-hope still in me that the Pope will retract the Vatican-issued apology, but I doubt it will happen, which is sad. We need someone to speak the truth - and we don't need anyone to apologize for it.
(As an off-to-the-side note, the Vatican apology didn't seem to 'cover it' for all the Moors. While some were appeased, other weren't, with situations such as arson attacks on five Churches in West Jordan and the Gaza Strip. You can read more about that on kreuz.net)
Now for more news - the news this posts title is referring to: Sunday Shopping. Now, in today's godless culture, most people don't see any problem with heading to the mall on a Sunday afternoon. As a matter of fact, its a pretty normal occurrence. Really, how bad could a little shopping on Sunday be?
Bad, say Jonathan Gruber (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Daniel M. Hungerman (University of Notre Dame) in their report titled: The Church vs. the Mall: What Happens When Religion Faces Increased Secular Competition? (From the University of Notre Dame website, the final official document, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, can be purchased at their website for 5$.)
So, what does happen? Well, in places where laws against Sunday shopping had existed, but were eliminated, church attendance went down to 32%, from about 37% when laws were in place. In addition, Marijuana use increased by 11% among church goers, cocaine use by almost 4%, an alcohol consumption by around 5.5% - and the more faithful people were beforehand, the more likely they were to fall.
Wow. Makes you think, doesn't it. Maybe going to Church, on Sunday, is important... Maybe next time you think: "Well, the sale ends today, so I'll head to the mall after Church." You'll remember that it may quickly turn into: "Well, the sale is only on Sunday, so I'll go to Church on Saturday instead of Sunday to get the deals," and sooner then you think into "I'll skip Church, I've got to shop/watch football/sleep in/ect..."
For those of you wish it, you can read coverage of the report at LifeSiteNews.com and washingtonpost.com.
In Gentleman, you are a gentleman (la duh, to quote Lissa). Your job? Help old ladies across the street. The problem? They walk slowly and if a raindrop hits them they get knocked out. True, most real old ladies aren't so... fragile. But these are. This game has some great quirks, such as ladies with dogs and bags and suitcases, plus multiple sizes of umbrella for you to earn. Its a wonderful quick break for those times when you've been performing some repetitive or lengthy task on the computer... Such as writing this long post. So on that note, I go to play. Until next time, may all your Thursdays be Perpetual.
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