Holy Week

Fr. Flakey in the News Again: Wants to "Snuff Out" K-Mart for Selling Easter Baskets with Nerf Guns

Ed Morrissey reports on Fr. Pfleger's latest left-wing, headline-seeking nonsense:

Remember Michael Pfleger, the radical priest in Chicago last heard from in the 2008 campaign, defending his friend Rev. Jeremiah Wright? The one who hung out with Barack Obama for decades, thinks that “America is the greatest sin against God,” and who wound up getting suspended by the Chicago diocese after making himself into a national spectacle? Well, Father Pfleger is back, baby, and he has a new eeeeeevil in his sights — guns. Or perhaps more accurately … gateway guns?

There was a time when kids wanting toy guns had limited media images of cowboys and Indians or cops and robbers to emulate. Today, not so.

So the Rev. Michael Pfleger said he is challenging the sale of the toys — in Easter baskets — to a generation plagued by more violent and rampant use of guns in their own neighborhoods.

“I am writing to express my concern and outrage that Kmart is selling Easter baskets, which are obviously for children, with toy guns in them,” Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina Catholic Church in Auburn-Gresham, wrote to officials at the big box retailer, in a Mar. 9 letter obtained by the Sun-Times.

“With the increasing gun violence in Chicago and across this country, I am amazed that you would choose to offer toy guns to our children to make them comfortable with playing with them. I am asking you to remove any baskets with toy guns in them from your store’s shelves immediately,” Pfleger wrote.

[...]

Pfleger then argues that Nerf is nothing more than a gateway to the harder stuff:

But equally important is that any psychiatrist will tell you a child who gets comfortable playing with toy guns and pointing them at people as a child becomes comfortable picking them up as an adult. In a nation that’s plagued with gun violence, neither Kmart nor any other store should be selling guns in Easter baskets to our kids.

[More]

My Comments:
Actually, Ed is mistaken in believing that guns are a "new evil" for Fr. Flakey (although targeting nerf guns seem to be a new twist in his opposition). In fact, it was a controversy over gun shops that first brought this pernicious priest to my attention:

On Saturday, as part of an Operation PUSH protest at Chuck's Gun Shop & Range, the Rev. Michael Pfleger, pastor of St. Sabina's Church, urged the crowd to "drag" shop owner John Riggio from his shop "like a rat" and "snuff" him, the Illinois State Rifle Association (ISRA) said.

[...]

"I want the NRA [National Rifle Association] to understand - you have a lot of money, but money can't buy moral authority and it can't buy justice or freedom, and we will fight you, NRA," he says.

"We will fight you on every angle [sic], no matter how much money you've got, we will embarrass you, and we will embarrass every legislator that takes money from you. We will call them out by name, by district. We will expose you, legislators."

Pfleger then turns his attention to Riggio. "He's the owner of Chuck's. John Riggio. R-i-g-g-i-o. We're going to find you and snuff you out … you know you're going to hide like a rat. You're going to hide but like a rat we're going to catch you and pull you out. We are not going to allow you to continue to hide when we're here …"

[...]

The day before the anti-gun protest, the church hosted former Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who was making a rare public appearance. Pfleger was quoted as describing the controversial Muslim activist as "a gift from God to a sick, sick world."

Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Catholic Priest Calls for "Snuffing" of Gun Shop Owner and Politicos Who Support 2nd Amendment [UPDATED]

Obama-Supporting Catholic Priest Thinks White People Should Give Up 401(k) Accounts to Make Amends for Slavery [UPDATED]

Cardinal George Removes Fr. Pfleger

He's Baaaaack!

Humor: Fr. Pfleger on Gov. Palin

Easter Rising - 95th Anniversary

Birth of the Irish Republic by Walter Paget, depicting the General Post Office in Dublin during the shelling by British troops

A Little Hank Williams for Spy Wednesday: "30 Pieces of Silver"

(Hat tip: The Son Rise Morning Show with Brian Patrick)

How I Know It's Lent

Something happens every year at this time to remind me that we are officially in the season of Lent and fast (no pun intended) approaching the Church's holiest feast of Easter.

It's not the ashes Father smeared on my forehead a few weeks ago. It's not the purple vestments and altar cloth. It's not even the ubiquitous fish fries hosted every Friday by various local councils of the Knights of Columbus or Ancient Order of Hibernians.

No, the liturgical season is announced with fanfare each and every year by the appearance of sensationalist stories like this.


(Hat tip: Cranky Con)


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this story:
The Easter "Hit" Parade

Discovery Channel Cancels Jesus Tomb Mockumentary

A Dominican Priest's Take on the Jesus Burial Site Mockumentary

Humor and the Mockumentary

Archaeologist Who Discovered Jerusalem Gravesite Casts Doubt on Jesus Mockumentary

Jesus Seminar Relic Lends His "Credibility" to Purported Jesus Relics

I'm Sorta Shocked ...

BREAKING: Jesus’ Burial Site Found - Film Claims

Bishop Blair: "Fear is Useless; What is Needed is Trust"

Bishop of Toledo Leonard Blair writes in the April 2009 issue of The Catholic Chronicle:

‘Fear is useless; what is needed is trust’

Written by Bishop Leonard P. Blair
Friday, 03 April 2009

... The Paschal Mystery remains what it has always been — an invitation to conquer sin and death by uniting ourselves through faith to Jesus Christ crucified and risen.

The Passion reads like a catalog of human horrors. Jesus experiences betrayal, total abandonment by His own, malicious distortions of His words and works, false accusations, the perversion of justice, beatings, spitting, scourging, mockery, stripping and one of the most cruel forms of execution ever devised — crucifixion. And He says, "Come follow Me!" Only faith can make so great a leap as to follow a crucified God.

The human heart recoils at the prospect of enduring even a small part of the cross. We all yearn for a quiet and peaceful life, free of illness, material want, danger, turmoil and misfortune. This is normal. It is good. It is our yearning for the way God created us to be before sin and death entered the world. Original sin, however, and the multiplication of sin, have brought us a long way from Paradise.

In the Paschal Mystery, the Most Holy Trinity is fully revealed as a God of total self-giving love. The Father gives His Son for us. The Son gives His all for us. And the Holy Spirit is the gift that unites us to the divine love. Self-sacrificing love unto death, even death on the cross, is the only path to redemption, to resurrection and life. It is the only way out of human misery, the only answer to the longings of the human heart.

***
As the Paschal Mystery is celebrated in this year of our Lord 2009, fear looms large over much of our country and the world.

There is grave economic fear. Our hearts — and our help as neighbor to neighbor — go out to families and individuals who are struggling with job losses, foreclosures and serious setbacks to their hopes and plans.

***
The economy is not the only reason for fear in today’s world.

On Holy Thursday we will commemorate the Last Supper. Listen again to what Jesus tells the apostles and their successors in the church: "In the world you will have suffering, you will have trouble. ... If the world persecuted Me, it will also persecute you ... If they have followed My teaching, they will follow yours. The reason the world hates you is because you do not belong to the world ..." (cf. Jn 15-16)

As Christian teaching about human life and sexuality come under increasing attack, we can expect an ever more powerful and concerted effort to intimidate, silence and even dismantle the Catholic Church in the United States. Religious freedom, conscience clauses, respect for churches to organize themselves according to their beliefs — all these things are currently being called into question. One has only to look at the recent legislative attempt in Connecticut to impose a "restructuring" of Catholic parishes in civil law. As a state senator there said: "The real purpose of this bill is payback to the bishops and pastors of the Roman Catholic Church in Connecticut for opposing gay marriage."

[Read the whole thing]

© Copyright 2002 - 2009 Catholic Chronicle
The Official Newspaper of the Catholic Diocese of Toledo

Commenters at NCReporter Wring Hands Over Pope's "Dangerous Political Game" (i.e. Baptism of Prominent Muslim Convert)

The usual dhimmis accuse the Holy Father of "playing a very dangerous political game" with the Church's sacraments in baptizing a prominent Muslim convert to Catholicism.

Rich Leonardi has the details:

Over at the NCRCafe, Pope Benedict's baptism of Magdi Allam has prompted deans from the College of Faint Hearts to sniff their disapproval:

Does the Vatican have a PR person? In a time when some reconciliation is sought with Muslims, Benedict pulls this stunt. If Allam wants to convert, fine; but why be baptized in St. Peter's square by the gilded pontiff?

But have no fear; Dale Price is on the case:

"Stunt?" And what possible reason would Muslims have to object to the free decision of a Muslim to become a Christian? Yes, that is rhetorical, but it happens--publicly--at every Easter liturgy. Your studied outrage would be better directed at the mistreatment of Muslim converts to Christianity throughout the Muslim world.

Follow Rich's link to National Catholic Reporter to read the anti-Benedict reactions and Dale's priceless (no pun intended) response in full.

Easter ... He Is Risen!

He Is Risen *** Alleluia!

The Resurrection by El Greco

More Happy Easter

You might like to read this quite informative Easter post by Cleveland blogger, "King", at King's Right Site.

Happy Easter!

He Is Risen *** Alleluia!


Resurrection by Bellini

The Resurrection by El Greco

The Easter "Hit" Parade

From Cybercast News Service:

Christians and Jews are accustomed to cultural elites trying to undermine their religious faith during Lent, Passover and Easter -- but it's never been as bad as this year.

Beginning on February 26, the news and entertainment media have fired a stunning barrage of criticism at religious beliefs, religious practice and religious symbols. Nothing is too sacred to attack this year, not even the most crucial teachings of Judaism and Christianity.

-- On Easter Sunday, the History Channel will question whether the Bible is God's genuine revelation to mankind.

-- The current -- Holy Week -- issue of Newsweek teases readers with the headline "Is God Real?" and features a debate between a prominent evangelical pastor and an outspoken atheist. National Public Radio also carried an atheist/Christian debate.

-- An April 3 New York Times article dismisses the story of Moses parting the Red Sea as a "myth."

-- Newsweek's March 19 cover story, "The Evolution Revolution," showcases the latest evolutionary theories attempting to explain the development of humanity without God. A March 4 New York Times Magazine piece, "Darwin's God," describes religious belief as "an outgrowth of brain architecture that evolved during early human history."

-- The arts world has mocked Jesus with a life-sized, nude, anatomically correct sculpture made of chocolate, reducing Him to the level of the Easter Bunny.

-- On March 4, the Discovery Channel took the prize. Discovery aired a documentary, "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," that claims to have disproved the foundational belief of Christianity: that Jesus rose from the dead.

This year's Easter "Hit" Parade began just five days after the beginning of Lent, at a February 26 press conference. Hollywood uber-director James Cameron and Emmy Award-winning director Simcha Jacobovici announced to the world that they have found Jesus' remains, thereby knocking the central pillar out from under the Christian edifice.

As the apostle Paul wrote, "If Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!" (1 Corinthians 15:17). Cameron's and Jacobovici's conclusions were quickly shredded by a phalanx of Jewish, Christian and secular scholars, but the media's Easter "Hit" Parade marched on.

[More]

My Comments:
Actually, I don't believe this year's secularist attack on Judeo-Christian faith has been any worse than in previous years. The media and the secular left always pull this crap during Lent and Holy Week (a.k.a. "Anti-Christian Sweeps Week").

He Is Risen *** Alleluia!

Resurrection by Bellini

Mark Shea reflects on this particular Easter Sunday better than I ever could.