News and commentary on Adventism:
Where are the Adventist Martyrs? – u/Under_the_shadow, Reddit
Good question. All religions need their martyrs to look up to and emulate. As a Catholic, I have a centuries-long list. My impression is that Adventists look forward to their own martyrdom instead of having a history of their own martyrs. Yet, through things like promoting religious freedom and moving out to live in rural areas, they do their best to avoid that martyrdom as well.
Another Adventist Institution Just Received Funding from Abortion Money – Advent Life
“Many Adventists believe that the church’s involvement with abortion is past history and that our institutions no longer receive blood money from abortionists like Dr. Edward C Allred, a 1964 graduate from Loma Linda University. If you believe this, you certainly need to watch this video.” Enough said.
Latinxs and the Adventist Nonsense of Segregation – Spectrum
This is an interesting article from Spectrum (on the more progressive/liberal end of the Adventist spectrum). Is Adventism in the USA still formally segregated in terms of conferences, or is segregation simply a side-effect of where people tend to live? Is it still the case in the US that Adventist churches (and conferences??) are divided along “racial” lines? In South Africa it was only in 2013 that the two conferences (white and non-white), that coexisted geographically in my part of the country, merged into one.
Fifth Jehovah’s Witness receives six-year sentence in Russia for practicing his faith – Religion News Service
Not Adventism, but close. This is real religious persecution and should stop. It’s not the pseudo-persecution the SSPX has promoted to create pseudo-martyrs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The latter are just disease spreaders pretending to be persecuted because of safety regulations.
News and commentary on Catholicism:
Pastoral Letter from Bishop Joseph E. Strickland On the Ethical Development of COVID-19 Vaccine – Bishop Joseph Strickland, Tyler, Texas, USA [page removed]
He writes: “Over the past several weeks, my eyes have been opened to realities, some of which, I must admit I was ignorant and unaware.” That sounds like he got himself an advisor who red-pilled him into antivaxxer ideas that the Catholic Church dismissed long ago, a dismissal that still applies to the current COVID vaccines in development. He harps on about “body parts of aborted children” in his videos and commentaries, and gives the mistaken impression that vaccines are produced with fresh fetal bits. He knows better, because he refers to cell lines in his letter, although he calls them stem cells, which they are not – they’re fibroblasts, connective cells that hold tissue together. He obviously is being led around by the nose, or he’s guilty of deliberate exaggeration in order to misrepresent what really goes on. His tweets – some of them retweets of anti-Francis propaganda – indicate that he is moving into the Burke/Vigano arena.
Here you can see my assessment of vaccines, including the morally problematic ones, with references to the official Catholic statements about them.
The shameful participation of Catholic leaders in Trump’s attempt to steal the election – America
“Bishop Strickland’s choice to lend episcopal support to this effort brings disrepute upon his office.” Hear! hear! To Bishop Strickland: You make Catholics look like idiots. Please stop. Your conspiracy theories about vaccines and deep state and such are not Catholic.
The Catholic Church Has a Visible White-Power Faction – Sojourners
Subtitle: “Once persecuted by the Ku Klux Klan, some Catholics now embrace the most extreme forms of racial hatred.”
It would be fun to go onto a forum such as Parler that hosts right wingers and racists and spy on them. No… probably as boring as could be. But it’s real – there are people like this, and it’s growing. And not just in the SSPX and their spinoffs.
So … I joined Parler. Looks boring. Fr Zuhlsdorf is there, but I knew that. The Babylon Bee is there, and they’re funny. I don’t know how to find the secret racists that hate the Jews so much that they post it in Parler. I should know that – I’m a virologist, I know about COVID, I believe in and promote vaccines … surely I should already have a list given to me to spy on by my superiors??? No … it’s just boring. Slower than Twitter. Still boring. SSPX-like people are there. In 30 minutes I can’t find anything worth joining for. Twitter is better. I can’t find Strickland on Parler.
Why is Darth Vader in the Vatican’s Nativity scene? – America
Now people are going to have a fit. I can’t see any Darth Vader-like costume or mask. But it’s going to upset the new right, who have no sense of art appreciation and no sense of humour.
With Paris Theaters Closed, Church Is the Only Show in Town – New York Times
This is just ridiculous. And I looked it up – the St Roch people are not SSPX COVIDers. Is it some sort of intellectual deficiency that makes traditionalist Catholics not care about the safety of others? #MaskUp
Vatican Upholds Bishop Over Reception of Communion on Tongue – National Catholic Register
In short Bishop Stika of Knoxville, USA, suspended communion on the tongue because of COVID-19. A petition to the Congregation for Divine Worship requested intervention and overturning of Bishop Stika’s decision. The Congregation for Divine Worship upheld the decision by Bishop Stika. In 2009 it decided otherwise. The 2009 influenza pandemic was nowhere near as severe as the COVID-19, and I am glad that there are sensible bishops in the Vatican who take COVID-19 seriously.
I fully support Bishop Stika, although I do think communion on the tongue can be done as safely as communion in the hand. More hand sanitising would be needed, and more care would be needed not to touch the tongue. That last bit would be the very hard part – most SSPX priests can’t manage it, but, unlike Bishop Stika, they don’t care anyway.
