On the Death of Billy Graham

Franklin Graham on Donald Trump's Faith

Being At Peace With Different Measures of Glory

Athletes from Unified North & South Korean Team at Winter Olympics

The 23rd Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea are themed to be the games of peace.  This was accentuated by athletes of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) marching with their Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (North Korea) counterparts under a unified flag.

Olympic Athletes from Russia for 2018 Winter Olympics 

Due the doping ban on Russian Federation, the 169 clean Russian athletes marched as neutrals in red and grey uniforms as neutrals.  Any gold medal winning "Olympic Athletes of Russia"  will be feted with the raising of the Olympic flag and anthem. 

While the  2,952 athletes participating in the Pyeongchang games are the best winter sport athletes in the world, but only a few make it up to the medal stand to receive their glory. For most, marching in the Winter Olympics opening ceremony is the highlight of their careers. 



This makes Eric Liddell's admonition about glory all the more poignant. 




What is particularly noteworthy of Eric Liddell is not that he was the the Flying Scotsman was the first  British Gold Medal winner in track from 1924, or that he was the basis of the film Chariots of Fire (1981), or his steadfast Sabbath keeping, but for dying as a missionary in a Japanese internment camp in China in 1945. 

We should all be inspired to run a good race in life and doing our best.

Justifying Georgemas

British Great War Recruiting Poster 

According to the Gregorian calendar, April 23rd is the Feast of St. George (or Georgemas).  The Orthodox also admire the attributes of St. George but follow the Julian calendar which marks the feast on May 6th.  St. George born in Syria Palestrinia in the late Third Century who served as an officer in the Roman army that guarded the Emporer Diocletian, but who was martyred for not renouncing his Christian faith.  The emperor tried to bribe George to renounce his faith and tortured him, but to no avail. Before he was decapitated, St. George gave all of his wealth to the poor.

St. George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic Church, among Anglicans, Orthodox, East Syrian churches. Even Muslims revere this honorable military man. In the Twelfth Century a legend was attached to St. George about slaying a dragon.  The standard Orthodox icon of St. George depicts him slaying a dragon with a woman in the background.

The dragon is generally understood as being both Satan and the monster from his own life (Diocletian). The woman in the background is Alexandra, the wife of Emperor Diocletian. Crusaders credit an appearance of St. George. This was probably legend which traveled back with the Crusaders from the Holy Land and was embellished in courtly Romance retellings.


Legend has it that a plague bearing dragon came down from the mountains and terrorized the countryside.  The dragon could not be appeased with ransom of livestock.  This  dragon would not stop his rampage unless the King tied a young maiden to an oak tree in the center of the village.

The King's nobles used a pigeon to decide what to do.  If the bird flew to the east then, they must take the King's own daughter Sabra and tie her to a tree, as the dragon demanded.  The pigeon flew off to the east. 

But as fate would have it, the pigeon managed  to attract the attention of a knight called  George and guided him back to the princess. Just as the dragon was about to devour the princess, the good knight clad in armor fortified himself with a sign of the cross and then brought the fight to the dragon.  George cunningly slowed down the dragon by driving a ball of pitch down his throat, and then speared the dragon with a grievous wound with his lance.

The Wedding of St. George and Princess Sabra by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1857)

According to Eastern versions, the knight rode back to the city along with the princess and the dragon in tow.  As George approached the city, he promised to slay the dragon if the town would become baptized Christians.  Fifteen thousand men took to the baptismal waters and George slayed the dragon with his trusty sword Ascalon (recalling the city Ashkelon in Israel).  The king was so grateful that he bestowed nobility (some say Sainthood) to George and gave his daughter Sabra's hand in marriage and promised to build a church were the dragon was slain.

St. George is the patron saint of England yet it is not a public holiday in England. The reasons why celebration of Georgemas is muted are cultural, historical and now tinged with political correctness.



St. George was neither English nor roundly associated with England, even though King Edward III formed the Order of the Garder under the patronage of St. George in 1348.  The Reformation played a part as Protestants did not care much for saints' days. In addition, celebration of St. George's day has been in decline since the Act of Union between England in Scotland completed in 1707.  In today's world,  the Daily Telegraph reports that many English people are concerned that national symbols like St. George can be considered racists,


Aside from the fact that many pubs in England are named after George and the dragon, it makes one wonder why this legend matters. Modern man is quick to dismiss myths (unless it is anthropogenic global warming), but this is short sighted. Myths convey essential truths although the romantic story elements may not be exact.  For instance, the story of George Washington chopping down the cherry tree may have been apocryphal but it does "I can not tell a lie" does illustrate some of the virtues of Washington's transcription of "The Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior", which molded the first President's life and were put into practice at the founding of the American Republic.

The reason that St. George matters so much to the English is that the legend reinforces characteristics which the English admire and seek to emulate.  St. George is a knight who exemplified chivalry. St. George and the dragon also champions the little guy as well as the triumph of good over evil.  The versions which depict him making the sign of the cross depict deep dedication to principles (if we dare not declare faith).  These romanticized virtues along with the more verifiable versions of his hagiography make St. George a man worthy (bank holiday or not) for Englishmen to emulate.

[This piece originally ran on DC-LausDeo.US]

C.S. Lewis on Belief

Oscar Romero on Speaking

Rick Warren on Majoritarian Views

On the ISIS Inspired Atrocity in Normandy

Two terrorists aligned with ISIS took hostages during a morning Mass in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray in Normandy France.  The Muslim terrorists forced Fr. Jacques Hamel to kneel at the altar and then they slit the throat of the 84 year old curate as they reportedly videotaped the brutality.

Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi. S.J., lamented the martyrdom of Fr. Hamel, noting: “We are particularly stricken because this horrible violence occurred in a church — a sacred place in which the love of God is proclaimed — with the barbaric killing of a priest." 

Mike Pence Characterizes Himself

Fr. Richard John Neuhaus on Socialism

Fulton Sheen on Culture

Franklin Graham on Transgendered Bathrooms and Going Back to God

Ted Cruz on Religious Liberty

Donald Trump on Easter

Decency in Presidential Politics

For the first time in his 61 years of life, influential Christian preacher and author Max Lucado has spoken out about politics.

Lucado shared his decency test when vetting prospective suitors for his teen-aged daughter with the crucible being evident decency.

Lucado wonders why in Election 2016 that Donald Trump, the current front-runner in the Republican Presidential Primary race, would be turned away from Lucado's door as he persistently fails the decency test.




Some polling from the first four Republican primary contests show that Trump grabs a good amount of support from self proclaimed evangelical voters. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) who had expected to earn the support of most evangelicals, posits that Trump is getting lots of self-described "Born Again" votes but not real evangelicals.

The logic is that evangelicals who are serious about their Christian walk in faith care more about being biblically correct than eschewing political correctness through Trump support.  It is similar to the political divide between Mass going Catholics (25% of the total) and those who are C-I-N-Os (Catholics in Name Only).

After electing Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, Americans should have learned the lesson that despite triangulating promises and eloquent oratory that character matters.  When some one shows you who they are, you ought to believe them.

Decency is a good gauge of character.

Cupcake Kasich's Casuistry on Religious Liberty

As a Republican Presidential hopeful, Governor John Kasich (R-OH) has been bold about practicing his faith on the campaign hustings.  Kasich has used modern Manichean metaphors which crib from scripture of allusions to Prince of Darkness and Light Worker. Kasich justified his expansion of Medicare thru Obamacare as what one tells St. Peter at the pearly gates for personal divine judgment.

Thus it seems incongruous that Governor Kasich takes such a restrictive view on religious liberty.  While campaigning for President, Kasich tipped his hand towards appealing to LBGTQQ? voters by noting that bakers should make cupcakes for everyone.  Prima facia, this seems fair.

Of course, this is a fallacious simplification of the Sweet Cakes Oregon bakery.  A lesbian couple sought out a Christian bakery to make a same-sex wedding cake but Sweet Cakes owners Aaron and Melissa Klein refused to do so on religious grounds. Homosexual activists advocated a boycott of Sweet Cakes.  Moreover,  Oregon prosecuted them on state discrimination grounds which includes homosexuals and denied their First Amendment Religious Liberty claims.  The Kleins were fined $150,000 and had to close their retail shop.

Selling cupcakes to everyone is quite different than being participants in a wedding ceremony.  The Kleins take their Christian convictions seriously and did not want to be made party to the ceremony, but had no problems selling cupcakes to any customer.  This was not an isolated incident. The rural Indiana pizzaria which was harassed when asked a hypothetical on whether it would cater a same-sex wedding not to politically correct responses also was lambasted, even though they do not cater.

It is not about selling cupcakes.  It is about abrogating American's fundamental freedom in the First Amendment, namely the right of religious liberty and the free exercise thereof.  After the United States Supreme Court usurped marriage contract authority from states in Hodges v. Obgerfell (2015) through Justice Anthony Kennedy's nebulous "right to dignity" claim, faithful Americans must not only tolerate same-sex marriages but must be willing to participate in facilitating the ceremony despite what their consciences dictate. 

So taking Kasich's comment for what it's worth, he believes that there is a freedom to worship behind the doors of a church but there are no rights for ordinary citizens to live their faith in the public square.  

No wonder Tim Allen thinks that Kasich is a Republican that a Democrat would like-- it's tool time!

John Henry Newman on Life

Politicking, Faith and Forgiveness

In the hours before the Iowa Caucuses were held, CNN reported an odd story about the unconventional campaign of Dr. Ben Carson.  CNN reported that Carson was not immediately going to New Hampshire or South Carolina after the Hawkeye Cauci but would be heading home to Florida.

Campaigns on the ground in Iowa took that Carson curveball as an indication that Carson might be withdrawing from the nomination race. The Cruz campaign passed word out to their grassroots to use this news as a selling point in the caucuses.

In the end, Dr. Carson came in fourth place, with the same percentage of support that was indicated by the later polls. Yet the Carson campaign is crying foul that Cruz cheated.  Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) offered an apology.  

Yet that uncommon political humility seemed insufficient for Dr. Carson.




Much of the impetus for the Carson campaign is evangelical Christian fervor.  It is curious how Dr. Carson is quick to label himself as a Christian but be parsimonious about forgiveness.  Carson later demanded his terms for forgiveness-- heads in the Cruz campaign should roll.

Several realities impact Carson's sanctimonious tact.  Firstly, his strategy of not rushing off to the campaign battlegrounds was giving a false flag. This was compounded by pushing back on the withdrawal rumor by claiming that Dr. Carson needed fresh clothes.

Secondly, the Cruz campaign was not the only one to seize upon reports of the Carson campaign's premature demise. Rubio ran with it too. So why the selective outrage? Might it not be due to faith principles but the cold calculation that Cruz and Carson campaigns are competing for the same slice of voters?

Thirdly, Dr. Carson is allowing himself to be used by Donald Trump.  After ingesting a brief serving of humble pie the night of his Iowa Caucus second place showing, the bombastic attack is back with the Donald.  This time, Trump is championing the cause of  Ben Carson, who was supposedly cheated by Ted Cruz, so there should be a do over in the Iowa Caucus.  Sure.  This "help" for Dr. Carson is coming from a good friend who compared the neurosurgeon to being pathological like a child molester in November.

The 2016 Republican Presidential primary process has hosted a half dozen religiously oriented candidates:  ex Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR); ex Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA); ex Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LS); Gov. John Kasich (R-OH); Dr. Ben Carson and Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX). Others have tried to ingratiate themselves to evangelicals.  But we will know them by their actions.

 Referring to Two Corthinthians at Liberty University is a clue of being disingenuous. But what is more telling is candidate who does not want to bother God by asking for forgiveness.

Forgiveness is a vital part of walking the path of Christianity. Carson claims that he accepts Cruz's apology but it hardly sounds like it from his initial quote. The subsequent call for heads to roll sounds like conditional forgiveness.

But will that standard be be equally applied to all supposed wrongdoers? Should it matter that others are conflating this supposed harm to be a cudgel for their own purposes?  Was this stiff necked notion of mercy applied for someone who slandered you?

Jesuits have the concept of presupposition-  meaning that one gives another the benefit of a doubt unless proven otherwise.

While this conservative appreciates the constitutional and faith driven campaign of Dr. Carson, I have been unimpressed by the manner which he campaigns.  It is more than making rookie mistakes.  When he is in the spotlight, he seems to whine. What is more disconcerting is the duplicitous demonstration of faith, in which Carson embraces his duty of forgiveness as a Christian then makes stipulations on a sincere apology.  All the while, this kerfluffle is being exploited by someone who thrives in insults and acrimony. 

John Kasich's Modern Manichaean Metaphor

John Kasich's self assessment on the Hugh Hewitt show sounds like modern Manichaeism. But Kasich has often self righteously pushed a Christian social gospel as he has been on the Presidential hustings. 

Wonder where Kasich stands on Two Corinthians (sic). In addition, wonder how the heavens consider his monicker of Prince of Light and Hope.

Eulogy for Meadowlark Lemon, the Clown Prince of Basketball

Basketball legend Meadowlark Lemon died at age 83 in Scottdale, Arizona on December 27, 2015.  Lemon was the court jester of the Harlem Globetrotters for 22 seasons before venturing off to play for the Bucketeers, then later with the Shooting Stars and in 1988 starting "Meadowlark Lemon's All Stars".  In 1994, Lemon played 50 games for the Harlem Globetrotters while still playing for his own touring team.

In Meadowlark Lemon's prime, he played 325 games a year. After missing one game in Germany after a bad meal of goulash in 1955,  Lemon played  7,500 consecutive games for the Harlem Globetrotters, which was the equivalent of 92 NBA seasons. But Lemon was known for more than his perfect attendance on the courts.

   

Wilt Chamberlain played with Meadowlark Lemon for the 1958-59 season on the Harlem Globetrotters.  Wilt Chamberlain lauded Lemom shortly before his Wilt's death in 1999:  “Meadowlark was the most sensational, awesome, incredible basketball player I've ever seen.  People would say it would be Dr. J or even [Michael] Jordan. For me it would be Meadowlark Lemon.”  Lemon could make unbelievable behind the back half-court baskets and was known for his long range hook shot. 

Supplementing his superior skill set at basketball fundamentals, Meadowlark Lemon was a showman.  He enthusiastically embraced being the "Clown Prince" of basketball, by doing a regular shtick of throwing a bucket-full of confetti and pulling down the pants of referees.  Meadowlark Lemon was inducted into both the Basketball Hall of Fame and the International Clown Hall of Fame. 

Aside from being an athlete and an entertainer, Meadowlark Lemon had a spiritual side.  Lemon became an ordained minister in 1986 and a Doctor of Divinity in 1988 from Vision International University.  Along with his second wife Dr. Cynthia Lemon, he founded  Meadowlark Lemon Ministries with a mission "Changing lives to change the world" by   leveraging his books, media, evangelical outreach along with Camp Meadowlark basketball camp as inspiration to stay focused and finish strong message aimed at keep kids away from the path of substance abuse. 

Meadowlark Lemon Ministries has a special outreach to youths in detention facilities and prisons.  Meadowlark's message to these troubled souls is that you are not alone, you are uniquely special, God has great plans for you and you are forgiven. 

Through his excellence on the courts and comedy, Meadowlark Lemon could entertain and elevate his fans.  Parlaying his successes on the court to his ministry, Meadowlark Lemon helped elevate himself and others to a higher level. Rest In Peace Clown Prince of Basketball.