Tuesday, March 19, AD 2024 4:24am

Ferrara v. Shea

 

 

Break out the popcorn!  The latest in the longstanding Ferrara v. Shea feud:

 

 

The “Francis effect” appears to be driving Mark Shea over the edge as he doggedly stays the neo-Catholic course of defending the indefensible no matter how indefensible it becomes. Given a Pope who has just cooperated with the Abortion President to sell out the oppressed Catholics of Cuba, with thanks from both Obama and Cuba’s communist dictator, and who approved a synodal document calling for appreciation of the “positive elements” in concubinage and “valuing” the “orientation” and the “gifts and qualities” of “homosexual persons,” Shea is now faced with a growing army of messengers that have to be shot, including a few cardinals and bishops.

Shea is beside himself over a searing critique of this pontificate by Maureen Mullarkey that appeared in—oh the horror!—First Things. He cannot believe it: “This was not written on a bathroom wall where it belongs.  It was not published on some blog published from Ignatius Reilly’s basement.  This was published by First Freakin’ Things.” Yes, First Freakin’ Things, the preeminent journal of “moderate” Catholic opinion that could never be accused of “rad trad” leanings.A bewildered Shea wants to know: “First Things: What happened to you guys?” Francis happened, that’s what. Now, if Shea were a reasonable man he would recognize that there just might be a serious problem with this pontificate when even First Things begins voicing objections to such elements of the Bergoglian program as “his clumsy intrusion into the Middle East and covert collusion with Obama over Cuba” and his “sacralizing politics and bending theology to premature, intemperate policy endorsements”—a reference to Francis posing between two environmental activists while holding an anti-fracking T-shirt.

Go here to read the rest.  Why is the Iran-Iraq war coming to my mind and the observation of Henry Kissenger:  It is a pity they both can’t lose?
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Murray
Murray
Saturday, January 10, AD 2015 8:04pm

Let’s see, this might be tough. How to choose? Let’s see:

On one hand, this pontificate has turned me into a Remnant subscriber.
On the other hand, Mark Shea is a uniquely repulsive figure, the Keith Olbermann of Catholic punditry.

Wait, I guess those are the same hand. Oh well, Ferrara it is.

Paul W Primavera
Saturday, January 10, AD 2015 8:11pm

“…Francis posing between two environmental activists while holding an anti-fracking T-shirt.”
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I will not be able to contain myself once he poses with anti-nuke activists.

Murray
Murray
Saturday, January 10, AD 2015 9:21pm

I will not be able to contain myself once he poses with anti-nuke activists.

I find that it helps, in a perverse way, to remember that it’s all theater, just like the clown nose, or the beachball on the altar, or all the other instances of papal performance art to which we’ve become accustomed. The Holy Father isn’t seriously opposed to fracking or nuclear power, but he seeks the approval of those who are, and so he poses for photos.

Michael Dowd
Michael Dowd
Sunday, January 11, AD 2015 5:45am

The Holy Father seems is taking the Church and now the world to a new level with relevance and freedom for all. Unfortunately, God seems no where to be found in any of this.

DJ Hesselius
DJ Hesselius
Sunday, January 11, AD 2015 7:19am

Murray: I don’t know that we know for sure what the Pope opposes or supports.

Art Deco
Art Deco
Sunday, January 11, AD 2015 9:08am

Why is the Iran-Iraq war coming to my mind and the observation of Henry Kissenger: It is a pity they both can’t lose.

I would not want to have to riffle through the whole corpus of Mr. Ferrara’s writings and offer a defense (what I’ve read was more-or-less satisfactory and a welcome respite from some of the cant you used to see from more mainstream authors, but I understand a mess of it is troublesome). I realize the man has occasional bouts of hot air production, but I cannot imagine equating him with M. Shea, who has been suffering escalating inability to engage in ordinary discussion for at least 10 years now and slides time and again into wild fusillades of hostility.

Foxfier
Admin
Sunday, January 11, AD 2015 9:34am

What did the First Things article actually say that was objectionable?
I know they published a second article because I caught the comment under it about how it was “not the apology we deserve, it was doubling down” or something, but I didn’t have the emotional energy to get into it.

Penguins Fan
Penguins Fan
Sunday, January 11, AD 2015 9:53am

Ferrara’s writings often imply the deep contempt he has for Catholics who attend Mass in the Ordinary Form. As many Catholics have no choice – or just prefer it, which IS their choice – I make no such judgment.

Shea is, well, Shea. Shea would defend the inherently stupid No Fracking t shirt the Roman Pontiff posed with. Given that thousands in my home Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, with a majority employed around Pittsburgh – I want the Roman Pontiff to take a side trip here after he visits Philadelphia next year and tell everyone at a gas well drilling site that they need to stop. That is one reason I would want to go and see the current Roman Pontiff.

Paul W Primavera
Sunday, January 11, AD 2015 10:36am

Penguins Fan wrote:
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“I want the Roman Pontiff to take a side trip here after he visits Philadelphia next year and tell everyone at a gas well drilling site that they need to stop.”
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I would prefer the Roman Pontiff tell the folks at NRG to stop constructing and building Heliostats:
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emBY6phmn9E
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And how safe and environmentally conscious does the Roman Pontiff think this is?
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5KvJjI21i0
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There are hundreds of examples of solar photovoltaic pollution, solar thermal fires, wind turbine fires, wind turbine thrown blades, etc., available on the internet. What makes any of these BETTER than fracking for oil and gas?
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BTW, speaking of thrown wind turbine blades:
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u14tBwO5QVQ
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I truly despise environmentalism.

Patricia
Patricia
Sunday, January 11, AD 2015 11:06am

Exemplary irony.
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He cannot believe it: “This was not written on a bathroom wall where it belongs. It was not published on some blog published from Ignatius Reilly’s basement. This was published by First Freakin’ Things.”
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Foxfier, when your energy perks, do read the article that mentions Faith related elements in relation to developments from whom the above quote inspired such loyalty.

William P. Walsh
William P. Walsh
Sunday, January 11, AD 2015 11:33am

Paul: “I truly despise environmentalism”. So do I. In the Holland of old, the windmills were driven by the wind but here they are driven by the government subsidies. On the Big Island of Hawaii, there is a sizeable wind farm in the vicinity of South Point. The wind blows like mad there most, if not all of the time, Yet a third or more of the machines are broken down and rusting away. If these things were truly productive, they would worth repairing to keep them in service. They are not. Rather, they are a raid on the US Treasury and a farce. Oh yes, and the solar aerial bird zappers, what a travesty of human progress. Where is Rachel Carson when we need her? 😉

Foxfier
Admin
Sunday, January 11, AD 2015 11:48am

Patricia-
thank you.
Although that probably means that you think I will most likely be dragged into the fight…. 🙁
(I’m getting better about cutting off when it’s past being useful, but I still spend a lot of time defending people I think are getting unfairly abused.)
*********
William- when the wind gets too fast, windmills have to be shut down. That’s true even with the smaller water-type ones I know from Nevada, but the bigger the fins the lower the speed that will result in massive shaking from stress. There’s some down in Oregon that had tips that were breaking the sound barrier…for a very short time before it damaged them too much….

Tito Edwards
Admin
Sunday, January 11, AD 2015 1:10pm

Mark never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity to not sin.

Samuel63
Samuel63
Sunday, January 11, AD 2015 1:42pm

I am glad to see First Things is not held up as a reputable magazine.

DJ Hesselius
DJ Hesselius
Sunday, January 11, AD 2015 2:51pm

Paul W. P.: Thank you for bringing up the deaths of birds, etc. That kind of thing does not get nearly enough press play (nor does the fact that contraceptive chemicals are getting into the water ways and damaging fish and frogs).
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One Oregon company was fined $2.5 for bird deaths due to the wind mill operation.(Somehow I expect the tax payers themselves will pay the fine.) One commentator says that the wind industry is in fact killing far more birds (and bats) than the government is letting on. This has got to stop.
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http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_27269019/company-fined-2-5-million-after-death-birds?source=infinite

William P. Walsh
William P. Walsh
Sunday, January 11, AD 2015 3:20pm

You are welcome DJ Hesselius: Silent Spring!

Ernst Schreiber
Ernst Schreiber
Sunday, January 11, AD 2015 4:09pm

when the wind gets too fast, windmills have to be shut down. That’s true even with the smaller water-type ones I know from Nevada, but the bigger the fins the lower the speed that will result in massive shaking from stress. There’s some down in Oregon that had tips that were breaking the sound barrier…for a very short time before it damaged them too much….

You should see what a windfarm looks like after a line of tornado producing severe thunderstorms moves through.

William P. Walsh
William P. Walsh
Sunday, January 11, AD 2015 5:13pm

“You should see what a windfarm looks like after a line of tornado producing severe thunderstorms moves through.” Ernst, It must look like the economy post-Obama. Heh heh 🙂 Why am I laughing?

Paul W Primavera
Sunday, January 11, AD 2015 7:39pm

DJ Hesselius wrote:
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“Paul W. P.: Thank you for bringing up the deaths of birds, etc.”
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You are welcome. I am sadly correct as the following video shows – the eagle tried to rise from the ground after impact and could not:
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NAAzBArYdw
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Ernst Schreiber wrote:
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“You should see what a windfarm looks like after a line of tornado producing severe thunderstorms moves through.”
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I viewed about a dozen or more You Tube videos of tornado impacts on wind farms in the American mid-west. If the tornado vortex impacts a wind turbine directly, then devastation results as these videos show. Blades whose tip travel at 90 to 150 mph and which weigh tons carry quite a bit of momentum when thrown. That said, I could not find videos of the wide spread damage that a tornado would likely do to a wind farm. Nevertheless, if a tornado were to occur, then I would feel safest here:
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Point_Energy_Center#mediaviewer/File:Indian_Point_Nuclear_Power_Plant.jpg

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