Vatican Newspaper: 'Angels and Demons' is Harmless Entertainment

Father Fleming »

Thu May 07, 2009 12:41 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 2

You're right, fullgospel, we need to be vigilant, but if the Church has seen the film and finds no anti-Christian sentiment, just some historical inaccuracies, I think the film is, probably, as harmless as they say it is. They certainly didn't take that approach with The Di Vinci Code.

I don't believe anyone will view it as a documentary simply because of the nature of the film. Thinking filmgoers will recognize an action thriller for what it is, but you're right, some will not do their homeowork and could get the wrong message. I fear some of those might be predisposed in their thinking anyway.

Those of faith should have no problem, I believe. The Di Vinci Code was a reckless attack on the Church and Christian faith in general. It went beyond exageration into untruth, presented as truth and that's wrong. It was downright heretical. Angels and Demons seems to be lighter fare that avoids issues of faith, yet has the Church as it's focal point in the drama. If it attacked the Truth of the Scriptures, the Church would have blasted it.

Hopefully, with all that's being written, we'll be well informed and forearmed before we go to the theater. I think that's the least we can do.

Vatican Newspaper: 'Angels and Demons' is Harmless Entertainment

Father Fleming »

Thu May 07, 2009 12:05 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 3

I always worry when I see blanket condemnations of a culture, whichever culture it might be, including our own. Are there negatives to be found? Of course and probably too many, but there are positive bright spots as well.

There are films and many other art forms that portray positive things about us. We have extensive art galleries and museums filled with the beauty man has created through the ages. Many are expressions of our love of God as well.

Our culture also produces charitable institutions, philanthropic societies, churches and schools. We give to help our neighbors and respond generously in tragic times to meet emergencies. We do many good things because we are products of our culture and these things need to be recognized as well.

While many like to think that we should not concern ourselves with things of this world, God placed us here in our human form for a reason, namely, to love God and our fellow man, to grow and reach our potential as human beings. Our culture reflects our efforts to do that and we have produced many positive successes in that regard. There are negative things produced as well and we should be aware of the difference without condemning our culture as a whole.

Catholic Church Insists on Disclaimer in Angels and Demons Movie

Father Fleming »

Wed May 06, 2009 12:14 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 0

Delight, Catholic doctrine, Scripture and Tradition are the paths to the salvation of men's souls, not a danger to them. The Church's teachings are all based on the teachings of Christ and the Apostles. Through the centuries Catholic Tradition has built on those teachings to give us even better understanding of how Christ wants us to live our lives for His glory. Isn't that the goal for all of us?

Study: High School Teachers Influence Students' Evolution, Creationist Views

Father Fleming »

Tue May 05, 2009 6:47 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 0

Increase doesn't prove or disprove anything, really. It's change that is at the heart of the matter. When fish evolved into amphibians, is that an increase or decrease, swapping fins for feet, gills for lungs? One animal could only live under water, the other on land and waer and eventually, totally on land. These are three distinct "kinds", but whether that evolution represents an increase or just change is up to you to decide. I'm not sure what your definition, such as it is, is trying to prove or disprove, but again, it is change that is at the heart of the matter.

Study: High School Teachers Influence Students' Evolution, Creationist Views

Father Fleming »

Sat May 02, 2009 9:50 pm Agree: 2   Disagree: 0

From reading these posts the problem seems to be not with evolution, but with the unwillingness of science to figure a diety, God, into the theory. We all know that science by it's nature cannot do that since God is an untestable matter of Faith, not empirical by His very nature.

That doesn't mean as Christians that we can't see God's hand in evolution. Darwin used the term "natural selection" to describe how species evolve. When Christians speak of nature, they are speaking of God, the Prime Mover and Creator of all things, so actually, natural selection is God's selection. Viewed that way, God is the governing force in evolution.

So while scientists must remain scientific, we don't have to. To deny the science is futile. The Church once denied Galileo idea that the planets revolved around the sun, contrary to the Bible telling us that the Earth, not the sun, was the center of the universe. The Church had to retract it's condemnation of Galileo and admit to the science, looking a bit foolish in the process. Those, today, who deny the science and refuse to see God in the evolutionary process are exhibiting the same 16th century thinking. Schools that deny the science are equally primitive and do their students a disservice.

Evolution is the most powerful and all encompassing theory in science today. To pretend Darwin is wrong and to pretend that Creationism is on equal scientific footing is wrong. There is room for Darwin and God in the minds of thinking Christians. Let's not put the two at loggerheads when there is really no need.

Jimmy Carter: Disharmony Among Christians 'Like a Cancer'

Father Fleming »

Mon Apr 27, 2009 12:38 pm Agree: 9   Disagree: 5

God bless, fullgospel. We should all be working for Christian unity because we are bound together by Jesus Christ. There is enough for us to concern ourselves with in the world without battling each other.

Jimmy Carter: Disharmony Among Christians 'Like a Cancer'

Father Fleming »

Mon Apr 27, 2009 12:36 pm Agree: 10   Disagree: 5

canadianchristian, I think Carter was talking about you and others who think their particular brand of Christianity is somehow superior to others. You look for doctrine different from your own, personal doctrine to find fault with other Christians.

Carter hit it right on the head, as usual. Jesus Christ is the Unifying Force. All of the tangential things you seem obsessed with are of little consequence in the grand scheme of things. If you live a good Christian life of love, service to others and worship God, that gives you more in common with other Christians than all the differences put together. It's the spirit, not the letter that's binds us together.

Degrading Lyrics, Degraded Behavior

Father Fleming »

Sun Apr 26, 2009 7:03 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 0

Yeah, there's a lot of garbage music out there with the message that it's OK to be disrespectful of women's rights, even human rights. It's sad we can produce great artists and musical neanderthals at the same time.

Makes you long for the days of the Beatles, Crosby, Still, Nash and Young and all the rest who sang about peace and love. It was protest music and it challenged the status quo, but the message was always peace and love. All you need is love!

Christians Call for Greater Action on Earth Day

Father Fleming »

Thu Apr 23, 2009 5:30 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 0

Whether or not global warming is the pending event some say it is, there can be no argument that we need to get a better grip on how we deal with pollution and the environment. We need to get the air clean and prevent further deterioration of our waterways. Damaging our planet is an unsustainable habit if we want our grandchildren to find less toxins in their everyday environment. If the threat of global warning finally spurs this country to take pollution seriously, that's great. Enough towns have been devastated by toxic ball fields, cancerous drinking water and sickening air for us not to change how we do things, global warming or not.

Churches Across Faith Traditions Plant 12,000 Trees

Father Fleming »

Thu Apr 23, 2009 5:15 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 0

It's great to see true Christian concern for the environment with varied denominations uniting in stewardship for our planet, God's creation. Sometimes, it seems that kind of unity to fufill God's Word might not be possible, but this shows that it surely is. Kudos to al the groups that participated.

Over 5,000 Pastors Pledge to Keep Sermons Purely Biblical

Father Fleming »

Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:34 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 2

Pooor believer. He can't post anything, anywhere, on any topic where he doesn't take a cheap shot at the Catholic Church. It's a bizarre obsession that comes from a limited, stilted view of worship and collection of wrongful facts.

How many times to you need to read it in print before you understand that Catholics don't worship MarY? Catholics would never make that claim, so it's lack of knowledge there about what the Church actually teaches.
It's a common mistake bible only people make. My own step daughter asked me why Catholics worship Mary instead of Jesus. I had to tell her she was getting bad information and to do some reseach of her own.

Conclusions and opinions based on false information are worthless, which is probably why Catholics don't concern themselves much with evangelicals. It's not that important. Our salvation is.

Rick Warren to Address Breakaway Anglicans

Father Fleming »

Wed Apr 22, 2009 12:22 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 7

The Anglicans have been a mess since they broke from the Catholic Church with Puritans revolting against the church almost from the outset. There have been more schisms over the years, though all claim to remain part of the Anglican Communion, a strange claim if they don't adhere to the central authority of the church regarding scriptural interpretation and church doctrine. Rumor had it that the breakaway Anglicans might seek unity with the Mother Church, but not such word has come from the Vatican.

'Mary' Movie Aims for Easter 2010 Release

Father Fleming »

Mon Feb 16, 2009 12:10 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 5

Gee, a story about the Mother of God couldn't help anyone, Spiritually? I guess she's not an indispensable part of the life of Christ? I guess she wasn't chosen by God Himself to bear His only Son? She wasn't there at Calvary or at the wedding feast where Jesus turned water into wine? She wasn't filled with the Holy Spirit to accept the angel's message that she would bear the Savior?

Why some people feel it necessary to belittle Mary's role in Scripture and the life of Christ, I'll never know. There's some kind of agenda at work there if you can't recognize the importance of Mary in Christianity.

1 in 3 Americans Unfamiliar with Darwin's Tie to Evolution

Father Fleming »

Wed Feb 11, 2009 5:19 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 4

You evangelicals are a joke, calling the Catholic Church false, unbiblical, unchristian, etc. What you know about the Catholic Church and Christianity and it's history would fit in a thimble. You grabbed a made up from Luther about scripture only and created a whole religion from it. Well, Luther arrived 1500 years after the Catholic Church and it was the Catholic Bible he edited and altered to meet his own needs as a disgruntled Catholic monk. That's the Bible you use now. The original doesn't say scripture alone and the original is the one I go by.

Creationists to Mark 'Darwin Day' with Anti-Evolution Conference

Father Fleming »

Wed Feb 11, 2009 12:45 pm Agree: 3   Disagree: 6

Wow, what a brain trust must be assembled for this one. Anti-evolution? That's like being anti-gravity.

The Vatican is holding a conference on Darwin and evolution and they've managed to reconcile God as Creator with the reality of science. They know that God works in mysterious ways and evolution can very easily be part of God's plan. Of course, the Catholic Church knows Genesis is allegory, a fable or myth to explain what was unknown by ancient man. It isn't to be taken literally. Thank God I can believe in God and Darwin.

On Darwin's 200th, a Theory Still in Controversy

Father Fleming »

Wed Feb 11, 2009 12:38 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 2

And a word of praise for the school systems that have resisted the pressure to put intelligent design into their science curriculum. And thank God for the courts that have kept it from masquerading as science in our classrooms.

There's a place for science and a place for Faith. I don't go to church to hear sermons on the Theory of Relativity and I shouldn't go to science class to hear the Creation myth passed off as a scientific fact. Let's keep both desciplines where they belong.

On Darwin's 200th, a Theory Still in Controversy

Father Fleming »

Wed Feb 11, 2009 12:33 pm Agree: 1   Disagree: 2

Biblical knowledge of creation is a phrase that is tossed around these posts like it was a fact. It isn't. The Genesis story is allegory, fable, myth, whatever you'd like to call it, but it isn't meant to be taken literally. It is an attempt by early man to explain his world and they didn't have the knowledge to explain it any other way.

So many other pagan religions had, basically, the same story, but with different dieties, most having a 7 day span of creation and most having an "Eden." That the Hebrews would have their own version is far from surprising.

People often say that God works in mysterious ways, but seem so unwilling to apply that to evolution. Why couldn't evolution simply be God's plan for creation? Some say it robs humans of their dignity having a common ancestry with lower animals. To that I say that many animals have more dignity and goodness in them than some humans. I don't consider that an insult at all.

With gnome research continuing, maybe one day the preponderance of evidence will be so overwhelming- as though it wasn't already - to convince the hardheaded that they can't deny the truth. Then maybe they can learn to reconcile their belief with scientific reality instead of trying to tear down the most widely held biological theory in existence.

On Darwin's 200th, a Theory Still in Controversy

Father Fleming »

Tue Feb 10, 2009 12:58 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 1

I see defense of the most widely held scientific theory in the world today a futile exercise. People who don't believe the science base their skepticism on belief in the literal nature of the Genesis myth and there's no fighting literalism. It's no a rational thing. The more enlightened believer can see the hand of God in Darwin's work and that's about the size of it. Even the Vatican, which is hosting a conference on Darwin and evolution, only invited proponents of intelligent design as cultural or social commentators, not as scientists or theorists. That would put the Cathlic Church in the enlightened camp where complexity, nuance and mystery are acknowledged alongside recognition of God as Creator.

Poll: Repeal of Mexico City Policy Least Popular Among Obama Moves

Father Fleming »

Sun Feb 08, 2009 6:41 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 0

whati have found is that there is a reason the poor are poor.........drug addiction, mental delusion, no incentive etc it is rare to find a hard working person who remains poor.

How about lack of education, resources and role models? I know plenty of people that work as hard as anyone, sometimes at several jobs, to make ends meet and they are still poor. It certainly isn't for lack of work or ambition. It's lack of options when there are mouths to feed and bills to pay. It irks me to hear people way that if you're not well off, it's because you don't work hard enough. It's a crock, really, in a lot of cases.

Christian Right Challenges Obama's Justice Picks

Father Fleming »

Thu Feb 05, 2009 8:03 pm Agree: 0   Disagree: 2

I can't believe that anyone can actually think the Justice Department could be more of catastrophe than it was under Bush whose minions decreed that the Geneva Conventions could be discarded, torture authorized and personal protections removed for average Americans, workers, our environment, national parks and endangered species. The trampling of Constituional protections under Bush were heinus. His Justice Department was instructed to "get chalk on their spikes" in trying to get as close to the minimal legal line as they could regarding our rights and our enjoyment of them.

Far from advancing a left wing agenda, the new Justice Department will return to doing the work most Americans want it to do. If freedom means anything, it means your rights are protected even if you're in the minority, like gays. Right wingers cringe at the idea that their speech should be infringed upon, but don't mind seeing censorship imposed on those with whom they disagree. Well, freedom doesn't work that way. It's not a one way street that is only open to the majority opinion, but to all Americans.