Day: February 22, 2011

Give them your tired, your poor, your huddled masses . . .

Kenwood United Church of Christ
No troopers allowed in such a place

Dig this story:

Religious leaders offering sanctuary for Wisconsin Democrats

Leaders include Catholic, Jewish and Protestant faiths

Not kidding. It’s three AP paragraphs out of Madison, tantalizing uninformative. But do you remember when “sanctuary” meant beyond the altar rail for Catholics and the body of the church for Protestants?

Now it’s three hots and a flop for the wretched refuse of the teeming shore of the lake called Michigan and points west.

Wait, BizTimes.com for Milwaukee and SE Wis. has Rev. Jason Coulter, pastor of Ravenswood United Church of Christ in Chicago, and Rabbi Bruce Elder of Congregation Hafaka in Glencoe, Ill. as two of the plucky clergymen.

Gotcha moment on first read of new mass

Sign of the cross
Begin with sign of this . . .

Wow! Just discovered a major change in the replacement mass scheduled for December that no one has mentioned so far. It’s in “The Introductory Rites,” first thing:

1. When the people are gathered, the Priest approaches the altar with the ministers while the Entrance Chant is sung.

When he has arrived at the altar, after making a profound bow with the ministers, the Priest venerates the altar with a kiss and, if appropriate, incenses the cross and the altar. Then, with the ministers, he goes to the chair.

When the Entrance Chant is concluded, the Priest and the faithful, standing, sign themselves with the Sign of the Cross, while the Priest, facing the people, says:

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.1

The people reply:

Amen.

It’s a stunner, right? What? you don’t see the big change? Look closer. Read it again. Now get it? No? Come on, do I have to explain everything?

THERE’S NO “GOOD MORNING”!

Wis. Dem no-shows have their reasons

Saul Alinsky
His shadow lurks in Madison

WI Republican state senator to Dem, whom he knows as a colleague:

Hopper [the Republican] says he reminded Taylor [the Dem] that Republicans were out of power not too long ago, when Democrats controlled the state Assembly, Senate and governor’s office. “There were bills I was adamantly opposed to,” Hopper says, “and we didn’t run away.”

How you argue against that point, I dunno. The crux of it:

At the heart of all this, Republicans and Democrats are realizing there might be a gap between them that is bigger than they realized. To Republicans, the budget fight has involved the widespread shirking of responsibilities: teachers walking out on students, legislators running away from their offices, even doctors abandoning medical standards to make excuses for perfectly healthy teacher/protesters. To Democrats, the fight has touched a core issue; anything is justified to preserve union benefits.

Or, as Saul Alinsky said, “If the end doesn’t justify the means, what the hell does?” It’s making social concerns trump personal morality.