Category Archives: Nonfiction Books

Plenary Assembly, International Theological Commission

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*** This was written by Rev. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy. We have inserted the images.***

Are the bishops, priests and deacons in the Catholic Church in the United States listening to this fellow? How about Ireland, England, Canada, Australia, Europe, Africa, South America, Asia? If the Pope had said that Catholics must return to the reception of Holy Communion on the tongue only, the U.S., British, Irish, etc. airwaves, TV, radio talk shows, Internet, papers, magazines and pulpits—from the far right to the middle of the road to the far left—would be ceaselessly and volcanically bellowing in all directions. However, the Pope says, “The definitive revelation of God in Jesus Christ makes every recourse to violence in God’s name ultimately lifeimpossible,” and the silence is so total that you can hear a U.S. drone strike seven thousand miles away in Pakistan—if you care to listen. Communion on the tongue or in the hand is an utter irrelevancy. Christ’s refusal of violence, His overcoming evil with good, thereby making recourse to violence for the Christian impossible is as strong an indictment as can be made on the failure to catechize and spiritually guide the Catholic flock along the Way of Jesus in many countries of the world. Yet all of the Catholic right, middle and a significant percentage of the Catholic left “ho hum” it. The use of calculated silent indifference as a method of refusing to acknowledge that something of ultimate importance is being said is the bread and butter of corporate mass media, I would think that the use of such a methodology by Church leaders would cause them to sleep poorly at night.

Here is Pope Francis on Vatican radio.

(Vatican Radio, 1/15/14) Pope Francis received the participants in the Plenary Assembly of the International Theological Commission on Friday. The three main themes the Commission is addressing throughout the course of its current five-year study period are: the relations between monotheism and violence; the social doctrine of the Church; and, the “sense of the faith.” Speaking of the possible perversions of authentic faith in the one true God, Pope amenFrancis said, “The definitive revelation of God in Jesus Christ makes every recourse to violence in God’s name ultimately impossible. It is precisely because of [Christ’s] refusal of violence, because of his having overcome evil with good, with the blood of his Cross, that Jesus has reconciled men to God and each other.”

P.S. If you would like a good warm-up piece to read before the International Theological Commission publishes its full text (only a very brief summary has been published at this hour), you might want to read, hopefully read again (!), Violent Monotheism: True or False?  that can be found on either of the two websites below, as Chapter 3 In the book All Things Flee thee For thou Fleest Me, or as Chapter 5 in Christian Just War Theory: The Logic of Deceit. Also as I understand the content of the International Theological Commission’s document, Chapter 5, The Nonviolent Trinity, in All Things Flee thee For thou Fleest Me could be most helpful.

 heaven

“Thou, Dear God”

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“Thou, Dear God, Prayers That Open Hearts and Spirits,” by Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Thou, Dear God” is the first and only collection of sixty-eight prayers by Martin Luther King, Jr. Arranged thematically in six parts–with prayers for spiritual guidance, special occasions, times Thou Dear godof adversity, times of trial, uncertain times, and social justice–Baptist minister and King scholar Lewis Baldwin introduces the book and each section with short essays. Included are both personal and public prayers King recited as a seminarian, graduate student, preacher, pastor, and, finally, civil rights leader, along with a special section that reveals the biblical sources that most inspired King. Collectively they illustrate how King turned to private prayer for his own spiritual fulfillment and to public prayer as a way to move, inspire, and reaffirm a quest for peace and social justice. With a foreword by Rev. Dr. Julius R. Scruggs, it is the perfect gift for people and leaders of all faiths, and an invaluable resource for spiritual individuals and those who lead worship.

War Made Easy

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War Made Easy reaches into the Orwellian memory hole to expose a 50-year pattern of government deception and media spin that has dragged the United States into one war after another from Vietnam to Iraq. Narrated by actor and activist Sean Penn, the film exhumes remarkable archival footage of official distortion and exaggeration from LBJ to George W. Bush, revealing in stunning detail how the American news media have uncritically disseminated the pro-war messages of successive presidential administrations. The documentary is based on the book War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death by Norman Soloman and published in 2005.

Exorcisms as Treatment for PTSD?

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The New York Post ran an article on a retreat center that performs exorcisms on soldiers suffering from PTSD and Jennifer Percy’s book Demon Camp:

“Army machine-gunner Caleb Daniels lost his best friend and seven other members of his unit when a Chinook helicopter — 41n1pTi8KiL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_one he was meant to be on — crashed in Afghanistan.

The 2005 tragedy haunted him when he returned to his home in Savannah, Ga. At night, a tall, shadowy figure crept into his room. Sometimes the Black Thing would threaten to kill him; other times it would choke his dead best friend.

The dark figure, a ‘Destroyer demon,’ punished him, he said, ‘for killing and for living.’

Rev. William Halloran

I have not read the book, but I think it’s a good sign if some are beginning to see that PTSD is both a spiritual and a psychological problem. Pumping veterans full of drugs will probably not be enough to heal them. This calls to mind William Halloran, who was the Jesuit Catholic priest who, at the age of twenty-six, assisted in the exorcism of the young Roland Doe; this was the case that inspired William Peter Blatty to write his novel The Exorcist. Halloran later became a paratrooper chaplain in Vietnam during the war. He said that he saw more evil in Vietnam than he ever did in Roland Doe’s bed. And let’s not reduce this to the tired statement “War is hell.” War is worse.

Shrek the Sheep

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This has been floating around the Internet. I saw it on Facebook. I’m sorry, I don’t know who originally wrote it but it’s a beautiful reflection,

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This is Shrek the sheep. He became famous several years ago when he was found after hiding out in caves for six years. Of course, during this time his fleece grew without anyone there to shorn (shave) it. When he was finally found and shaved, his fleece weighed an amazing sixty pounds. Most sheep have a fleece weighing just under ten pounds, with the exception usually reaching fifteen pounds, maximum. For six years, Shrek carried six times the regular weight of his fleece. Simply because he was away from his shepherd.

This reminds me of John 10 when Jesus compares Himself to a shepherd, and His followers are His sheep. Maybe it’s a stretch, but I think Shrek is much like a person who knows Jesus Christ but has wandered. If we avoid Christ’s constant refining of our character, we’re going to accumulate extra weight in this world—a weight we don’t have to bear.

When Shrek was found, a professional sheep shearer took care of Shrek’s fleece in twenty-eight minutes. Shrek’s sixty pound fleece was finally removed. All it took was coming home to his shepherd.

I believe Christ can lift the burdens we carry, if only we stop hiding. He can shave off our ‘fleece’—that is, our self-imposed burdens brought about by wandering from our Good Shepherd.

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

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This reflection on Shrek reminds me of the beginning of Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried: The_Things_They_Carried

“The things they carried were largely determined by necessity. Among the necessities or near-necessities were P-38 can openers, pocket knives, heat tabs, wristwatches, dog tags, mosquito repellant, chewing gum, candy, cigarettes, salt tablets, packets of Kool-Aid, lighters, matches, sewing kits, Military Payment certificates, C rations, and to or three canteens of water. Together, these items weighed between 15 and 20 pounds, depending upon a man’s habits or rate of metabolism.

…What they carried was partly a function of rank, partly of field specialty. As a first lieutenant and platoon leader, Jimmy Cross carried a compass, maps, code books, binoculars, and a .45-caliber pistol that weighed 2.9 pounds fully loaded. He carried a strobe light and the responsibility for the lives of his men.

As an RTO, Mitchell Sanders carried the PRC-25 radio, a killer, 26 pounds with its battery.

As a medic, Rat Kiley carried a canvas satchel filled with morphine and plasma and malaria tablets and surgical tape and comic books and all the things a medic must carry, including M&M’s for especially bad wounds, for a total weight of nearly 20 pounds.

As a big man, therefore a machine gunner, Henry Dobbins carried the M-60, which weight 23 pounds unloaded, but which was almost always loaded. In addition, Dobbins carried between 10 and 15 pounds of ammunition draped in belts across his chest and shoulders.

As PFCs or Spec 4s, most of them were common grunts and carried the standard M-16 gas-operated assault rifle. The weapon weighed 7.5 pounds unloaded, 8.2 pounds with its full 20-round magazine. Depending on numerous factors, such as topography and psychology, the riflemen carried anywhere from 12 to 20 magazines, usually in cloth bandoliers, adding on another 8.4 pounds at minimum, 14 pounds at maximum. When it was available, they also carried M-16 maintenance gear– rods and steel brushes and swabs and tubes of LSA oil — all of which weighed about a pound. Among the grunts, some carried the M-79 grenade launcher, 5.9 pounds unloaded, a reasonably light weapon except for the ammunition, which was heavy. A single round weighted 10 ounces. The typical load was 25 rounds.

…In addition to the three standard weapons — the M-60, the M-16, and M-79– they carried whatever presented itself, or whatever seemed appropriate as a means of killing or staying alive.”

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“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

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CAM Supporter!

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We were happy to hear from a former military enthusiast on Nov. 19 and would like to share with you his email (with his permission, of course). Anyone out there in New Prague, Minnesota?

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Good morning,

I stumbled across your website today; Lew Rockwell had linked it and posted an article of yours that caught my eye.  I would like to sign up for your mailing list.

I am not Catholic (or protestant) – I just love Jesus and all manifestations of his kingdom; I currently attend a non-denominational church.  I used to design hardware for the U.S. military and was an enthusiastic militaristic defender of “God and Country”; then God got my attention about the error of my ways.  He used a mission trip to Haiti, a book entitled “The Myth of a Christian Nation” by Greg Boyd, and a sermon series from a Canadian Mennonite church entitled “Inglorious Pastors” (2010, Bruxy Cavey, www.themeetinghouse.ca).  I’ve been on the path of Christian pacifism for only 3 years now, and in some respects I feel like a 3-year-old.  I’m trying to learn and put to death my old ways and old anger.  I’m trying to forgive myself for the mess I’ve made in the world – I’ve been repenting by draining the 401K money I saved at my old job and using it to fund projects in Haiti – purchasing school supplies for children; farm tools, agricultural training, and seeds for adults; etc.  Beating sword-money into plowshare-money.

I do feel isolated; haven’t found a local group of Christians who hold to the peace-teachings of Jesus – most are still stuck in the “America is God’s special country” paradigm and all the militaristic cheerleading that entails.  The church I attend is no exception – lots of flag-waving and bible-thumping.  I want that to change, badly.  I work with teenagers at my church; many have considered joining the military, and I’ve been able to alter the inertia of a few – which is something, at least.  But we adults are stubborn beasts…lol.  Help?

God bless you for what you’re doing; please keep up the good work.  If you are aware of other Christians in or around the New Prague, MN, area that are of a similar mind, I’d love to partner with them.

Peace to you; again, please sign me up.

Luke Hacker

A President for Peace | America Magazine

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James Douglass writes an article, “A President for Peace,” in America Magazine about how he became involved in researching the life and death of John Fitzgerald Kennedy for his book: JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters.

“Hope? How does one discover hope from the murder of a president who was turning from war to peace? By confronting the Unspeakable in our history, we can see a redemptive light in the darkness.”

Corruption and Profiteering

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“Grand Theft Pentagon chronicles how the Pentagon shells out billions to politically wired arms contractors for weapons that don’t work for use against an enemy that no longer exists. St. Clair shows how many of the biggest arms contracts were literally inside jobs, negotiated by Pentagon generals who later went to work for the very same corporations that were awarded the contracts.”

Grand Theft Pentagon :Tales of Corruption and Profiteering in the War on Terror: Jeffrey St. Clair

St. Martin of Tours, Nov. 11

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Saint Martin of Tours

Saint Martin of Tours

Saint Martin of Tours is patron saint of soldiers. He was a conscientious objector and the first unmartyred saint of the Catholic Church. In addition to his sudden proclamation, during war, that he was a soldier of Christ and therefore could not fight, he is known for, upon spotting a beggar, using his sword to cut his cloak in half and giving one half to the beggar. In a dream, Jesus appeared to him wearing the half of the cloak that he had given away.

 

The following is an excerpt from Nonviolence: The History of a Dangerous Idea, by Mark Kurlansky, who has a somewhat cynical take on veneration of this saint:

“Some Christians continued to refuse military service. In 336 another son of a soldier suddenly put down his arms before a battle and refused to fight. The young man, Martin, had served in the military for two years after his conversion to Christianity. One day Martin said, ‘I am a soldier of Christ. I cannot fight.’ He was accused of cowardice, to which he responded by offering to go unarmed in front of the troops onto the battlefield. The emperor decided a fitting end to Martin would be take him up on his offer, but before this could happen peace was negotiated with the Gauls. The battle never took place, leaving Martin to die a natural death sixty-one years later at the age of eighty-one.

But others refused service, too, including Martin’s friend Victricius. The Church addressed this Christian urge toward conscientious objection later in the century, declaring that a Christian who had shed blood was not eligible for communion for three years. Thus did the Church acknowledge an objection to warfare, but not an insurmountable one. Then in the fifth century an Algerian biship, Augustine of Hippo, wrote the enduring apologia for murder on the battlefield, the concept of ‘just war.’ Augustine, considered one of the fathers of the Catholic Church, declared that the validity of war was a question of inner motive. If a pious man believed in a just cause and truly loved his enemies, it was permissible to go war and to kill the enemies he loved because he was doing it in a high-minded way…

Martin, who refused to go into battle against the Gauls, is now Saint Martin of Tours. Martin did not really qualify for sainthood, since, according to the original rules of the Catholic Church, one of the requirements was martyrdom. Martin would have been a fine saint if it weren’t for the last-minute peace with the Gauls. He would have marched unarmed across the field, been cut down and chopped up for sainthood. The later Church, not the one Martin knew, needed martyrs, because extolling martyrdom is a way of promoting warfare – the glory of being slaughtered. Needing Martin safely as a saint on their side and not as an unclaimed rebel conscientious objector, the Church turned Martin of Tours into the first unmartryed saint.

Saint Martin has become a kind of military figure, usually portrayed in armor. The U.S. Army Quartermasters Corps awards a medal named after him, ‘The military order of Saint Martin. Saint Martin is supposed to have died on November 11, 387. Historians say that the day is uncertain, but the date has taken on absolute certainty as the Feast of Saint Martin, because it coincides with the date of the armistice ending World War I. It is difficult to know what to do with rebels, but saints have a thousand uses.”