A Quote for Lent

“A church that doesn’t provoke any crisis, a gospel that doesn’t unsettle, a Word of God that doesn’t get under anyone’s skin, what kind of gospel is that? Preachers who avoid every thorny matter so as not to be harassed do not light up the world!” -- Oscar Romero, bishop and martyr. HT -- The Anchoress)

A Quote I Like

"From silly devotions and from sour-faced saints, good Lord, deliver us." -- St. Teresa of Avila.

A Thought for Inauguration Day

From the Anchoress --

"Obama was not my choice and I am appalled and a bit creeped out by the near-worship of him I’m seeing, but I do pray for him, and want the best, not the worst, for him, and for my country."

Amen sister, amen.

A Quote I Like

"If I succeed I bless God. If I do not succeed I bless God, for then it will be right that I do not succeed." St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

A Quote for Today

"Everybody knows in their bones that something is eternal, and that something has to do with human beings." Thornton Wilder, "Our Town".

A Quote I Like

"The only freedom which deserves the name, is that of pursuing our own good in our own way, so long as we do not attempt to deprive others of theirs, or impede their efforts to obtain it. Each is the proper guardian of his own health, whether bodily, or mental or spiritual." -- John Stuart Mill, On Liberty.

A Quote for Senator Biden

"Towards the government I feel no scruples and would dodge paying the [income] tax if I could. Yet I would give my life for England readily enough, if I thought it necessary. No one is patriotic about taxes." George Orwell, Wartime Diary, August 9, 1940. (HT-Radio Derb)

(I guess this now means we can question Congressman Rangel's patriotism)

Quote of the Day

"The Americans? We're going to smash them. That's what we came here for" -- Alain Bernard, French swimmer and SILVER medalist in the 4 X 100 meter freestyle relay.

A Quote for Independence Day

"The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore." -- John Adams

Adams thought that July 2 would be the day celebrated, as that was the day independence was celebrated. But history has made the celebration of the Fourth, the day the Declaration of Independence was officially adopted. But the sentiment remains.

LIBERTY AND INDEPENDENCE!

A quote I really like (for my 300th Post)

"Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching." -- Satchel Paige

(From Rodak's Website)

A little humor for April 15th

"I'm proud to pay taxes in the United States; the only thing is, I could be just as proud for half the money." -- Arthur Godfrey

A nice list of tax related quotes can be found here

This quote pretty much sums me up

"I sometimes think lawyers can't communicate coherently." -- Justice Antonin Scalia, comment during oral argument in Indiana v. Edwards.

A quote I like

"Science gives us knowledge, and religion gives us meaning. Both are prerequisites of the decent existence." Father Michael Heller, cosmologist and Roman Catholic priest, on winning the Templeton Prize for science and philosophy.

One reason I started this blog was to examine the role of faith and reason. As I make it clear, I am not a philosopher, a theologian or a scientist. But I believe strongly that faith and reason need not be in opposition to each other. Yet, faith and reason at times seem so hard to reconcile. Some try to by using God to fill in those things that science cannot understand – turning God the cause behind the universe into "The God of the Gaps." This God of the Gaps idea is what lead to my brief fling with atheism a decade or so ago. I found viewing God in that way so narrow that it turned Him into something I no longer recognized. Father Heller has argued against this view of God.

I admit, I had not heard of Father Heller, who teaches in Poland, prior to winning this award. Perhaps I should make acquaintance with his work.

A Quote I Like

"I will not cede more power to the state. I will not willingly cede more power to anyone, not to the state, not to General Motors, not to the CIO. I will hoard my power like a miser, resisting every effort to drain it away from me. I will then use my power, as I see fit. I mean to live my life an obedient man, but obedient to God, subservient to the wisdom of my ancestors; never to the authority of political truths arrived at yesterday at the voting booth. That is a program of sorts, is it not? It is certainly program enough to keep conservatives busy, and liberals at bay. And the nation free." – William F. Buckley, Up From Liberalism

This pretty much sums up the last 8 years and the coming election

"The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it." – PJ O'Rourke

A Quote I Really Like

"One must welcome the true conquests of the Enlightenment, human rights and especially the freedom of faith and its practice, and recognize these also as being essential elements for the authenticity of religion." -- Pope Benedict's reply to the 138 Muslim Scholars.

Pope Benedict wrote those words as part of a reply to a letter addressed to him by 138 Muslim scholars. The scholars wrote to the Pope hoping to begin a dialogue between religions, following the Pope's Regensburg Address. While addressed to a specific group of Muslims, these words I believe have relevance for us all. Some believe it is impossible to unite faith, reason and liberal democracy. Yet I argue that the three not only co-exist but are enhanced and strengthened by each other.

A Quote I Like

"The throngs of Packers fans had been warmed by Lawrence Tynes' two missed field-goal attempts and Lord knows what they had poured down their throats, and they were jumping up and down in their camouflage hunting gear. If deer have nightmares, they look like this."

Rick Morrissey, Chicago Tribune, on the Giants-Packers game

(And yes, I am really a Jets fan, but unlike baseball or football, I always root for both teams).

A quote I like

"I chose to be an American. What did you ever do, except for having been born?"

Ayn Rand is supposed to have used this rejoinder to a heckler who claimed that as a foreigner, she knew nothing of America. I am not a big Ayn Rand fan, but for me, that sums up a lot of the American experience. We are all immigrants in a way. My grandfather, born in Naples, had a love of America that I can only approximate. I take her for granted, but he realized how wonderful it really was.

In the ongoing immigration war, I hope we all remember these words.

Another quote I really like

"I am now a fundamentalist American; give me time and I will tell you why individualism, laissez faire and the slightly restrained anarchy of capitalism offer the best opportunities for the development of the human spirit. Also I will tell you why the relative freedom of human spirit is better -- and more productive, even in material ways -- than the communist, Fascist, or any other rigidity organized for material ends." -- Rose Wilder Lane.

Rose Wilder Lane was the daughter of the Laura Ingalls Wilder of "Little House" fame (and if you believe some people, the real author of the "Little House" books). Her belief in freedom was forged in her hardscrabble childhood, and reinforced by what she saw of the Soviet Union as a journalist, and by the rise of fascism.

A quote I really like

"If there were just one gift you could choose, but nothing barred, what would it be? We wish you then your own wish; you name it. Ours is liberty, now and forever." -- Isabel Paterson.