A Religious Intervention

Moreover, arms cannot simply be compared with other goods exchanged in global or domestic markets. The quest for a world more respectful of the dignity of human person and the value of human life must be the founding principle of the ATT.

Viewed from this perspective, the international community requires a strong, effective and credible legal instrument that is capable of regulating and improving transparency in the trade of conventional arms and munitions, including the trading and licensing of technologies for their production. [More]

So, pally, are Benedict's more-trustworthy-than-the-rest-of-us Swiss Guards gonna keep their SG 550s?

I don't suppose it's occurred to you that an armed citizenry might have been able to help you guys avoid a certain amount of "controversy"? And I don't suppose it occurs to you that those wielding a "monopoly of force" are also the ones who would require you to pay for abortions in Catholic health care plans?

Yes, We Have No Bananas*

"There is more control on the selling of bananas than there is on conventional arms," said Zobel Behalal, peace and conflicts advocacy officer for CCFD-Terre Solidare, a French-based Catholic NGO. [More]

Ah, those slippery global violence monopolist rights-peelers.

Speaking of slippery violence monopolist rights-peelers, check out the assault Banana. 

That adds a new level of "eeewww" to "I can't hear you--I have a Banana in my ear."

*

Catholic Church should demonstrate courage of convictions on ‘gun control’

So apparently the state will be there to protect its citizens when attacks occur. And the fact that government is controlling things miraculously transubstantiates “revenge” into “legitimate defense.” [More]

Today's Gun Rights Examiner column looks at some Papal bull.

Share the link in communion with your friends?

Rent

A single, 31-year-old woman in Michigan who posted a note on her church bulletin board seeking a "Christian roommate" to share her residence has been cited by the state for violating the Fair Housing Act by discriminating against those of other faiths.[More]

I guess all those men seeking men ads are illegal now?

I have an attic I've just decided to rent. I will only give it to an under-20 black Catholic Swedish hermaphrodite who speaks fluent Mandarin and has 20/14 vision.  If you don't fit into that category, you need to pay me more, based on a sliding scale of my prejudices. If I missed any opportunities to discriminate, let me know.

Anybody who wants to enforce an action against me now, bring it on.

I have a feeling it's going to take stupid bureaucrats who pushed the wrong person too far swinging from lampposts over smoldering ruins to convince these petty dictators to back off.  I hope they don't expect me with my guns to get involved and stop it.

A Faith-Based Initiative

Helmke to Pastor: Have More Concern For Fifth Commandment Than Second Amendment [Read]

Pastor to Helmke: Explain that to guys like these, will you?  In person?

And hope they're Catholic or Lutheran?

A Matter of Propriety

"We don't think it is appropriate to have guns in churches," Danny Loar, executive director of the Louisiana Conference of Catholic Bishops — the church's public policy arm in Louisiana said Monday. [More]

You might want to ban crosses while you're at it, Danny...

[Via retrotruckman]

Sad Snuffy Pledges More Public Temper Tantrums

An activist Catholic priest from Chicago is calling for rallies and demonstrations across the country to show public outrage over the Supreme Court decision striking down Washington's handgun ban.

I hope you get more people than you did with that "Huge Success" you achieved last time, Snuff-man.

I don't know if "sad" is the right word, though. The one I'm looking for has more of a "pathetic" feel to it...

[Via jpr9]

Scholastic Testing Police State Style

U.S. Drug Czar John Walters is in Tampa touting local programs aimed at stopping students from using and abusing prescription drugs...

In 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public schools could conduct random drug testing of athletes, expanding that in 2002 to include students involved in extracurricular activities.

Again with the "Czar", and I repeat my standard question:

How come they never say Führer?

I don't get how this isn't a violation of the Fourth Amendment. You can explain it 'til the cows come home, and I still won't get it.

This article doesn't make it clear if now all students, as opposed to those engaged in extracurricular activities, will be subject to random testing, and if it will include public, as well as Catholic high schools. And I don't pretend to know the circumstances of the SCOTUS case where they smothered 4A in their robes, but here's a thought, perhaps already tried and discarded, but as far as I know it's original:

If the random testing applies to all students in public schools, since attendance up to a certain age is generally compulsory,wouldn't subjecting them to an involuntary search under those conditions be a violation of the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination...?

In any case, isn't it nice to know that government, instituted among men to secure the blessings of liberty, is teaching young people to be suspects and inmates, whose bodies are the property of the state, rather than sovereign Citizens?

This Day in History: November 5

November 5, General Orders, Washington reprimands the troops in Cambridge for celebrating the anti-Catholic holiday, Guy Fawkes Day, while Congress and the army are attempting to win the friendship of French Canadian Catholics. He also writes commander of the northern army, Philip Schuyler, on the importance of the acquisition of Canada to the American cause. George Washington, General Orders, November 5, 1775 George Washington to Philip Schuyler, November 5, 1775

Snuffy's New Political Advocacy Billboard Campaign

The Faith Community of Saint Sabina has put up 40 billboards throughout the city of Chicago...

It certainly doesn't look like Snuffy Pfleger is abusing the church's nonprofit tax status to advocate specific legislation, does it? I mean, who could possibly consider this to fall under the IRS proscription:

In general, if a substantial part of the activities of your organization consists of carrying on propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, your organization’s exemption from federal income tax will be denied.

Besides, the IRS is already busy, chasing down churches that post pro-life advocacy messages from their own marquees, or processing letters from The Separatists demanding a church have its tax status revoked because the fundamentalist pastor told his flock not to vote for a Mormon.

But Snuffy's a left-wing subversive, so the rules don't apply. And never have.

I wonder if they paid full price for the billboards with tax-deducted donations, or if the billboard company donated the space and took a write-off themselves?

WarOnGuns Correspondent Les K, who sent me the title link, which also gives the schedule of the Pfleger/Jackson Citizen Disarmament Mobfest and Rabble-Rousin'Jamboree for August 28, writes:

I've already called and have gotten about 20 folks to call the Chicago Archdiocese. 312-751-8200. Maybe you could post the number and ask folks to ask the Chicago Archdiocese why they allow a Catholic priest to engage in political and potential illegal behavior...

And while you're at it, ask 'em who's paying for the buses, the drivers, the gas, and whether or not it's "substantial" and coming out of tax-deductible contributions...

Nothing New About Pfleger Pflouting Tax Law

My posts about Mike "Snuffy" Pfleger's abuse of his church's tax status notwithstanding, this is not the first time this issue has been brought to light. Yet curiously, not only has the IRS stood by doing nothing, but this aspect of the story has been all but ignored by "conservative" news outlets and bloggers--even though a clear double standard is evidenced in two recent news stories involving evangelical churches in Florida and Kansas.

In 2003, The Washington Post reported on Pfleger inviting then Democrat presidential candidate Al Sharpton to address the St. Sabina congregation. In their account, the Chicago Sun Times revealed:

[A]rchdiocesan officials are concerned about whether having a political candidate speak from the pulpit might violate laws regarding not-for-profit organizations, such as churches.

They shouldn't have worried. It was a good day. Catholic Citizens of Illinois reported a $36,000 collection plate haul.

Sharpton wasn't the only political candidate given a spotlight. As commentator Nicholas Stix observed about Barack Obama's relationship with Pfleger's St. Sabina in 2004:

He believes, with all his heart, in the separation of church and state – except when he campaigns in black churches, in violation of that separation, and in violation of the tax code.

Then we have some revelations from the Chicago Sun Times, April 12, 2005:

Rev. Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina says his church's outlay of $2,500 to send parishioners to a dinner and $1,500 for a golf outing, both sponsored by the 17th Ward Democratic Organization, was not illegal. "The perception was that Saint Sabina is funding candidates and taking church donations to do so," Pfleger said in a letter to the Sun-Times. "Neither is true." But as BGA director Stewart notes: "You have to ask, 'Who were these events hosted by and where did the profits go?'"

Events like these are meant to raise political cash, and a church's contribution crosses the already murky divide between state and religion. It's one thing for a church group to join a street protest to encourage social change and quite another to pay for attendance at a dinner sponsored by a political group. The rules about this are clear.

The article even says "Attorney General Lisa Madigan acted promptly by sending out information to tax-exempt groups..." so continuing to ignore the law is evidently willful, as opposed to an innocent oversight.

And here's a little apparent quid pro quo as reported by The Chicago Tribune early last month:

One of those long-time supporters was Rev. Michael Pfleger, the politically active leader of St. Sabina Church. He gave Obama's campaign $1,500 between 1995 and 2001, including $200 in April 2001, about three months after Obama announced $225,000 in grants to St. Sabina programs.

Pfleger said he made those donations personally, not on behalf of the church or to win grants.

"At a time when less people vote than ever, I don't think pastors should be silent on politics," Pfleger said.

No, apparently not, and 150 times your personal contributions are not a bad return on investment, either. Somehow, that pesky "wall of separation" liberals are alway harping about when the church/state issue involves conservative values (like pro-life Catholicism?) has become as porous and unguarded as our border. And with a nod and a wink, the St. Sabina congregation is in Obama's and the Chicago Democrat Machine's pockets, Pfleger has plausible deniability, and life on the South Side goes on.

GUNS Magazine, February 1957

IF YOU WANT to out-shoot and out-hunt the experts, take the sage advice of one of the world's best shooters and hunters, the Rev. Oswald T. McGinn, a 78-year-old Catholic priest now in retirement. The gun-toting padre has not retired from shooting and hunting, however, and he can hit just about anything he shoots at. His unconventional technique violates every rule in the book, except the Good Book. Seeing some of the many exhibition shoots he has given might make one wonder if his bullets are guided by the sure hand of God.

"The Shooting Priest of Texas"--is that a great title or what? I can't begin to tell you the sense of joy it gave me to read about this wonderful man, and the sense of contempt I feel for some of his modern-day counterparts. Things sure were different 50 years ago, right down to Fr. McGinn being welcomed in schools to teach the kids real gun safety, as opposed to today's hysteria reflex conditioning. I haven't been able to locate any more about him on the internet, so if you have any information, please share it with us.

This issue also features "The Case for Legalized Machine Guns", which demonstrates how "matches train Swedes for national defense" (incidentally, according to Firearms Laws in Sweden, unless the law has changed in the last few years, they still do, albeit with some stringent requirments), and gives us another great and authoritative quote about the National Firearms Act of 1934--burn this one into memory:

Lt. Col. George M. Chinn of the US. Marine Corps, has stated: "No single law has done more to damage the national defense of the United States than that machine gun act."

Also in this issue:

• "Pistol Shooting at Rifle Ranges"
• "America's Youngest African Hunter"
• "Making a Handgun Holster at Home"
• "The Rawest Racket in Hunting"
• And much more, including the classic period ads

Download your copy now. It's free, at least until it disappears in a few months to be replaced by "newer" issues. But if you missed previous issues, don't worry--GUNS Magazine is putting them on CDs for a very reasonable price.

We're the Only Ones Sending Our Kids Off to School Packed Enough

Administrators at a Catholic school in Marrero had some tense moments Thursday morning after a student accidentally brought a police officer's service revolver to school.

Chief Deputy Newell Normand of the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office said that a 5-year-old student at Immaculate Conception Elementary School had a .40-caliber handgun in a small bookbag.

Naturally, the Chief "Only One" won't disclose the mother's identity, nor does he "plan to make any arrests."

Any bets We the People would be afforded such courtesy?

This story nicely supplements two of today's earlier posts. First we have the Chicom corrections officer tragedy, and then we have the admittedly ignorant columnist proving just because you have a forum to express yourself, it doesn't mean you know what you're writing about.

Someone needs to ask reporter Allen Powell II about those standard issue .40 caliber "service revolvers."

This Day in History: November 6

On this day in 1789, Pope Pius VI appoints John Carroll bishop of Baltimore, making him the first Catholic bishop in the United States.

We're the Only Ones Confirmed Enough...

A policeman died when his own gun fell on the floor and fired a bullet into his chest yesterday...The victim had earlier been reported to have committed suicide but the report could not be confirmed.

As straightarrow observed about another suspicious death in the Phillipines:

I will bet you he was Catholic. Suicide would prevent him from burial in consecrated ground. Accident would not.

Mama lied. The priests will know it, the police will know it, but most probably, just like here, if it causes no further harm to anyone will go along with the "accidental" story out of respect for the mother.

Torture Found Rife in China

In other news, the Pope is Catholic.

Nicki had a similar reaction to an inane headline last month.