timeimmortal

The CHRC has dismissed the complaint against Catholic Insight magazine filed by Edmontonian homosexual activist Rob Wells.

Deb Gyapong has some preliminary details (check the link, above), with more promised, but for now let it be sufficient to say that this is a major victory for the right to religious expression in Canada. And it may also be a sign that the CHRC is beginning to feel the heat that us freespeechers are giving it — they are much more wary, it seems, concerning which cases to pursue. And if so, that’s a very good thing indeed.

Score one (more) for the good guys.

I think the first sex education class I had was in fourth grade, just for the record, and almost every year afterward until high school featured another iteration of the programme.

I’m sure most people my age have had a similar experience of sex-ed. And we know how well that’s worked out, don’t we? As in: not well.

Apparently the problem is that we started learning this stuff too late in life. And now, a British charity is calling for kids as young as four to be enrolled in sex-ed classes. Because apparently that will work better.

Brook chief executive Simon Blake said: “Many young people are having sex because they want to find out what it is, because they were drunk or because their mates were.

“That’s just not good enough for young people. We’ve got to have high expectations for them so they’ve got high expectations for themselves.”

He added: “All the evidence shows that if you start sex and relationships education early - before children start puberty, before they feel sexual attraction - they start having sex later.

“They are much more likely to use contraception and practise safe sex.”

If kids want to have sex to “find out what it is” firsthand, then no amount of sex-ed is going to stop them from doing so — not if you start it when they’re one or when they’re twenty. If they want the experience, they’re going to go out and get it. And if you have kids — especially underage teens — having sex as a consequence of getting drunk off their asses, then that’s your real problem, isn’t it? Maybe that’s the problem you should be solving first.

The thing is, in this age where casual attitudes and the “hookup culture” that we see displayed pretty much everywhere have made sex into a recreational activity on par with jogging, it’s almost meaningless to suggest that sex should be deferred, as meaningless as it is to suggest that jogging should be deferred. It’s both hypocritical and contradictory to suggest that sex is one more “no, nevermind” kind of activity, on one hand, and yet behave as though there is something special about it which should be waited for and deferred until one is suitably mature.

Good grief, we can’t even agree on what level of maturity is suitable in that regard!

Moreover, even if we did want to posit that there is something special and worth waiting for about sex, we’ve also done our level best to ensure that there will be no penalty for transgressing against any such social morés — there is no longer any real scandal attached to teenage pregnancy, and the governments of most Western nations will be only too anxious to throw money into the pockets of young mothers so as not to seem “cruel”. Even when people make sexual choices that we want to regard as “bad”, we do nothing to discourage them from making those choices.

And then there’s one other problem:

Sixteen-year-old Bethany, from Norwich told BBC News she had not understood the consequences of having sex early on.

“I didn’t know I could get pregnant,” she said. “I think if they started introducing sex education a bit earlier and teaching us a bit more about it so that we were more aware it would have helped me a lot.”

The first thing I learned in sex-ed, way back in fourth grade, was a functional definition of sexual intercourse. I still remember the exact phrase: “the penis must go into the vagina…”

The second thing I learned in sex-ed, way back in fourth grade, was that pregnancy was a possible result of sexual intercourse.

In. Fourth. Grade.

If a sixteen year old girl is still saying “I didn’t know I could get pregnant by having sex,” there are way bigger problems there than the age at which she was first exposed to a sex-ed programme.

In reading through an excellent tome by James Stuart Bell, which is comprised of excerpts from the various books that were found in the personal library of one Clive Staples Lewis — yes, of Narnia fame. From the Library of C. S. Lewis is an amazing book full of all kinds of spiritual reflections, principally from Christian thinkers, theologians, and authors who shaped and guided Lewis along his journey into, and then through, the Christian faith.

This morning, on the bus to work, I came across this passage, an excerpt from a writing by C. F. D. Moule, an Anglican priest and theologian who passed away last year at the age of 98.

In Rev 7:14 there is mention of those who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. This, of course, is applicable to all Christians as such: we all owe our cleansing to that blood. But if, as is sometimes held, this passage refers specially to martyrs, then I suggest — though this is only a guess — that it is possible that we are confronted with a striking example of the way in which Christ’s once-and-for-all sacrifice might be, in certain circumstances, spoken of as repeated in each act of human obedience joined with his.

The martyr’s own blood, shed in faithfulness to the Lord, turns out to be the blood of the Lamb. When their blood flowed, behold it was the blood of the Lamb. Their sacrifice was united with his — not as though theirs were independently redemptive or added anything to his, but in the sense that, being united, believer and Lord are, in that sense, one: his blood is their blood, their blood his. The blood whith is the sacrament of obedience is the Lord’s blood: the wine which is the sacrament of obedience is, in that sense, the Lord’s blood.

Now, Moule was (again), an Anglican, and so did not entirely share the Catholic view of the bread and wine. And yet, I think he grasped that there was more to them than just a symbolic remembrance of The Last Supper as well, and I think this moved him to postulate a reason as to how it might be possible that in partaking of the bread and wine, we might still be able to eat and drink the bread and wine whilst discerning in them the body of Jesus (c.f. 1 Corinthians 11:27-29).

In reading his conclusion, or rather his conjecture, I got the sense that he was correct about the link between the blood of the martyrs and the blood of Christ, but initially I couldn’t quite wrap my head around what that link might be. However, when Moule notes, of martyrs, that “[Christ's] blood is their blood, their blood his,” and then goes on to note that “in that sense” the wine from the altar is the blood of the Lord, I think he’s on to something…and that he doesn’t quite go far enough.

It is probably impossible to fully convey, in writing, the magnitude and meaning of what we receive in the Eucharistic meal; in the breaking of the bread and pouring of the wine, we remember Christ, and in the consecration of same we participate — both again and anew — in the one true sacrifice that Christ made for the salvation of all. In receiving Christ, we are thus not merely remembering Him, but committing ourselves to Him, uniting ourselves with Him, and in some sense even becoming as He was.

In essence, then, what Moule notes above about the blood of martyrs must happen in the Eucharist — in taking the wine which now is blood, we surrender our own blood, and our blood becomes Christ’s blood (and His ours).

Which should mean, if we are honest about our beliefs, that in receiving Christ, we boldly declare that we are fully ready — even willing — to perish as He did, not for our own glory, but for the glory of God and for our love of others (c.f. John 15:13)

In essence then, our participation in the Eucharist — in the feast of the body and blood of the Lord — becomes a preparation for martyrdom. In receiving that most blessed meal, we pledge that we stand ready — prepared, as it were, in heart, mind, and soul — to offer up everything, even our life, for the glory of God. And perhaps we should thus reflect that if we are not able — in heart, mind, and soul — to confess our willingness to put the Lord even before our own life, we should perhaps abstain from reception of the most blessed of the Sacraments.

And when we do receive the most blessed sacrament, perhaps we should reflect on the fact that at times, the Christian call includes the call to martyrdom. Perhaps we should make it a part of our prayers, that day and whenever the moment comes upon us, to ask the Lord for the strength and courage we may one day need to face, boldly, those who would do us harm for our confession unto Christ.

Wayne writes in with some kind words.

In your answers from a catholic, you referenced the group you were part of. You would know, of course that they have eliminated your posts as if they never existed.

I only caught a hint from a person responding to your intro post quoted it including the WtFdragon and your scouts involvement.

I used to be a “reformed baptist” type and knew that only the KJV Baptists were more anti-catholic than me, so when I saw the nature of those involved, I wasn’t surprised that you were summarily ‘disappeared’.

Did you ever address your bannishment from that group, and how long did you last after you posted?

btw, I am now a catholic after 42+ years of being an anti-Catholic, so God does rescue some enemies of the church just to keep them stirred up…. “did ya hear??!! Wayne went apostate!…. Catholic!”

I was married on Dec 8th, 2006 and we are still hoping for babies, congratulations to you and your wife.

Wayne

Well, thank you very kindly, Wayne.

Yes, O Reader, there is little trace of me left in the Gamespot group that calls itself the “Bible Believers Union”. And while the group’s name is not exactly a misnomer — everyone within it is some flavour of Christian, and then mostly of a strict-literalist bent — I am nevertheless reminded of a Star Wars quote. Pace Ben Kenobi, you will never find a more wretched hive of narrowness and bigotry.

Actually, that’s not entirely true — the BBU is hardly e.g. Stormfront. But it’s not a nice place to be, especially if you’re any other sort of Christian besides the Jack Chick reading, “Bible thumping”, “Jesus jumping” sort. And even then…seriously, the union is so hardcore that

The whole story of my joining, and then subsequently resigning from, the BBU involved me having a falling out, some years back, with some people on another Gamespot union, the Christian Union. Disgusted at some rather rabid anti-Catholic bigotry on display therein, I gravitated toward the BBU in the hope that it would prove to be a decent forum to continue talking about Christ online. As it turned out, I was leaving the frying pan for the fire…but in the interim, the leader of the Christian Union did a bit of house-cleaning and welcomed me back with open arms.

So the situation was resolved very well, I have to say, and fortunately the whole experience didn’t sour the Gamespot community for me any at all. Which is a good thing, as I rather like Gamespot as a resource — it is quite a good trove of information.

At any rate, many congratulations to Wayne on his conversion — the Church welcomes warmly, and is greatly enriched by, adult converts! May he persevere in faith! Congratulations are also due him over his marriage (such a blessed sacrament!), and it is my prayer that he and his wife be rewarded with the many fruits of the marital union, including (in God’s good time) children.

And yes, O Reader, more Answers will be forthcoming in due time.

I’m just in the process of installing an old game I used to be utterly vexed by — Twinsen’s Odyssey — onto my Mac. While originally a Windows 95/MS-DOS game, it can be run on Mac OS X through either the use of Virtual PC (which is how I am currently attempting to run it) or DOSBox (which I might resort to using in due course). I’m also going to have a go at installing Relentless, which I’ve never played before.

I don’t know why I’m doing this, entirely — Odyssey was a great game with a groundbreaking engine for its time, but it was also a rather frustrating exertion at times; there are parts of the game that I’m almost certain I won’t be able to pass. It is a hard game, for the most part.

Still, the attempt may well be the reward in and of itself, and certainly there are some enjoyable parts to the game. And as I’ve never played the prequel to Odyssey, Relentless, the whole experience should be doubly enjoyable.

Or, you know, incredibly frustrating.

For all my American readers (and I am reliably informed that more than a few of you live south of the 49th parallel), my wish is a safe and happy Independence Day weekend full of celebration and the love of family.

232 years and going strong!

Now this is a contest fit for a Canadian!

With a rich history of mediocrity, Canada has always celebrated the average, whether it’s handing out 91 television awards in a country with two major networks (plus Global!), or proudly proclaiming to anyone who will listen that Dave Thomas, Shawn Ashmore and that guy from the Friends spinoff are Canadian.

Because really…if you can’t laugh at yourself, you’re not actually a Canuck.

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