Homodemolition of the Church

You may have heard that a Bear can smell a fire before it starts to burn, and this is so. The Bear has spent much of last week sniffing at the air. There are so many fires about to break out he hardly knows where to start. There are arsonists about in the woods.

Oddly, what seems to be the least relevant problem imaginable has fallen on the tinder of a frayed Western Civilization and threatens to burn the whole forest. It's hard to bring up the topic without sounding like the 1950's "Boys Beware" movie. But by now the Bear trusts you don't need a movie to understand the manifold dangers of homosexuality. When examining how the Church has arrived at the current disaster, we always seem to return to the same destructive charge.

Homomania

Emblematic of our culture's sudden embrace of homosexuality is a recent study on support for gay marriage published by the prestigious journal Science. It proved that if people just got to know homosexuals, then, by golly they couldn't help but like them, and turn in favor of gay marriage. The scientific findings were hailed in The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal and other papers. After all, didn't the findings confirm what they all knew anyway? Homophobia was the product of ignorance.

Unfortunately, this study joined the long line of science fakes. One of the co-authors had simply made up data from whole cloth. (Compare with climate change. There are those who will happily fake the data in furtherance of their cause.)

Homosexuals are 1-2% of the population. But polls show Americans believe that figure is 25%. Their cultural impact is grossly magnified by the entertainment industry, social media, lobbying, litigation and laws. Even our churches must be homo-friendly. The predilections of such a small percentage of the population would be of little concern were it not for the disastrous challenge to Christianity. When President Obama can talk about "antisemitism, racism and homophobia" in one breath, you must appreciate what is going on. Oppose gay marriage and you're lumped in with Nazis and Klan members. Imagine the Church trying to operate wearing the white sheets of the Klan, or the brown shirts of Neo-Nazis.

There are only two choices for Christians. It can stay true to the revelation of scripture and unbroken witness of tradition, and maintain that homosexuality is a sin. Or, it can ignore that, and unlink homosexuality and sin. Just a pinch of incense to satisfy the state and mob. The first guarantees unpopularity and persecution. The second wins the friendship of the world. You would think it would be an easy choice, given the Church's long history. This has not proved to be the case..

A Flaming Scandal

The Bear has said it before, but it bears repeating. The Church's sexual abuse scandal had very little to do with pedophiles.  It was always about predatory homosexuals. Their crimes and those of their protectors weakened the Church. How ironic that the very cause of the sex abuse scandal is now part of the Church's P-R efforts!

It has been the Bear's unpleasant duty as a trial lawyer in criminal court to review the activities of many pedophiles. (These cases were mostly what the Bear did, along with murders.) Pedophiles like children young, starting as young as babies -- yes, babies -- up to prepubescent children. Most often toddlers, it seems. For whatever reason, pedophiles are sexually attracted to very young children. That's been the Bear's experience as both a prosecutor and a defense counsel.

Pedophiles usually seem to prefer children of the opposite sex (although some are indiscriminate).

Now predatory male homosexuals, on the other hand, will most often (in the Bear's experience) seek out boys who are adolescent, or nearly so. While pedophiles usually rely on their victim's tender years to cover their predations, homosexual predators will form a bond of trust with their adolescent victims, with an additional element of shame.

Why has it been necessary to cover this unpleasant business? The Bear introduces the Jay Report. It was an exhaustive study of the sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church. Of particular interest is the victim ages. It shows that the victim population was overwhelmingly comprised of pubescent males. This is exactly what the Bear would expect from predatory homosexuals, not pedophiles.

Now, in fairness, the Jay Report found that homosexuals were not implicated. Of course. Nonetheless, the "finding" makes no sense in light of the data. The Bear is confident that the abuse was conducted, for the most part, by homosexual priests. He would speculate that most of them did not feel there was anything wrong in what they did.

The destruction of the Church's moral authority by homosexual priests was devastating, as we all know. This was the direct result. It was caused by a not insignificant, well-protected, cabal of homosexual clergy. Indeed a "gay lobby" that is not so funny as the Pope's one-liner at 35,000 feet.

I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing (and It Can Name the Tune)

The Bear believes that in the wake of the abuse scandal the Church developed a man-pleasing, don't-rock-the boat mentality. An unhealthy premium was placed on good publicity in the world. The trajectory may be arguable, but when you look at what's going on today do you not see a Church as concerned with its image as any celebrity? One sometimes wonders if the Vatican has hired Bono's public relations firm.

Climate Change is a cause that all the right people, the smart people, the people in the UN and the people with Facebook pages are backing. Let's simplify for the purposes of illustration. Obama, leftists, pro-abortion, atheists, one-wolders, Communists, pagans, homosexuals, jr. high school kids, and everyone who gets their news from Comedy Central. All the people who live their life with a damp finger in the air lest they get caught on the unpopular side of an issue. Or worse, find themselves agreeing with Christians.

Strange company for the Church, one might think. On the other hand, it can put that Galileo business behind it by smiting the "science deniers."

Souls? If you put a gun to the Bear's head (and you wouldn't be the first) and asked him who, exactly, Pope Francis believes is on the path to salvation, this most Catholic Bear would have to confess he has no idea what self-proclaimed "loyal son of the Church" Francis believes. His public statements are often little better than a word salad of liberal soundbytes. When he recently tried to make a point about first-worlders wasting money on pets and makeup, his statistics were, to put it nicely, made up. (Or maybe he got them from La Repubblica, the far-left newspaper that is his only source of news.)

In three years your confession will be: "bless me Father, I have sinned. My carbon footprint grew by twenty meters. And I have a Golden Retriever." Don't bother with sins of the flesh. After sodomy was normalized they said, "What the Hell. God doesn't care about that stuff."

It must be exhilarating to take over a Church with no credibility, from an unpopular pope, and overnight turn it into a powerhouse of legitimacy courted by the movers and shakers of the world. What a sore temptation it must be to learn that you can get your face on the cover of the Rolling Stone by simply dropping an ambiguous statement about homosexuality. Obama just held him up as an example!

Back to Homosexuals

The Bear wishes he could forget about homosexuals, but here's the thing. The Bear doesn't really care what 1-2% of the population does to achieve sexual release. They're not driving this derangement. 

After civil rights, and gender equality, someone had the stroke of infernal genius to hammer homosexuality's square peg into the round hole of civil rights. Once gay rights was out of the closet and into the noble tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King, it all fell into place. To oppose it was not merely mistaken, but evil. Haters were beyond the pale of polite society. Soon the law will provide no wall for the normal to take cover behind. Most of this isn't so much pro-homosexual as anti-Christian.

If the Pope is really all that popular, why isn't he mounting the counterattack?

Easy. That popularity comes at a price. The referendum in Ireland? Did you find it odd that there was not a peep from the Vatican? The only way Pope Francis keeps his seat at the table is by going along with the world. Christians who fight are going to be mercilessly suppressed. The Church wants the Prince of the World's favor right now. That's why it will bend over backwards to accommodate the sin of Sodom.

In the great Christian classic Pilgrim's Progress (yes, the Bear knows it isn't Catholic, but he still likes it) there are two allegorical characters that the Bear is thinking of, Mr. By-Ends and one Mr. Worldly Wiseman. Mr. By-Ends sees religion as a means to an end, and does quite well for himself trimming his sails with changes in beliefs. One Mr. Worldly Wiseman keeps busy about his practical affairs and leads a well-ordered "religious" life quite subordinated to the world.

These gentlemen are in charge. Homosexuals first undermined the Church by their abusivness, and then were held out as the way for it to make its peace with a wicked generation. How sick is that?

Protect Your Dogs (and Cats)

Pope Francis: Get Rid of Your Dog (and Makeup)

Thanks to Rorate Caeli. 

When it comes to spending, what thing in the world comes after food, clothing and medicine? The fourth is cosmetics and the fifth are pets. That is serious. Pet care is like love that is somewhat programmed; that is, I can program the loving response of a dog or a little cat, and I do not need to have the experience of love with human reciprocity. I am exaggerating, so do not take it literally, but it is to make you think.

Sorry boys, Pope said you gotta go.

By the way, you shall not be surprised to learn that the Pope's rankings are bogus.

Jorge Bergoglio continues his assault on normality.

The Bear Makes Up His Mind

Bergoglio, no.

Happy Pentecost

Come Holy Ghost,

Fill the hearts of your faithful.

Kindle in them the fire of your love.

Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created:

(R) And they shall renew the face of the earth.

Oh God, Who did instruct the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Spirit,

Grant that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may be truly wise,

And ever rejoice in his consolation.

Amen.

Do you recite this prayer before you read the Bible?

The Bear marked the occasion by wearing his red bow tie to Mass, where he joined his mate, his son, and his girlfriend. (To be clear, that's his son's girlfriend. We don't live in Germany.) There was a baptism, so we were all expected to extend both hands in blessing, a bit of wrong-headed pantomime in which the Bear refuses to participate. He did wave one paw limply in the general direction. The homily was brief: something about talking with a Jew and Pentecost being a Jewish holiday. Not a very popular one, the Bear believes.

Speaking of Jews, Pope Francis likes to pretend that they're good to go, and there is no longer any reason for them to accept Jesus Christ as Messiah. That can't be right, can it? Of course it does tick another box on the Most Popular Man In the World checklist. Loves Jews. Loves Homosexuals. Loves planet Earth.

Amazing how each person in today's Gospel -- and there were people from all over the Roman Empire -- heard the Gospel in their own language. Does this mean anything today? Isn't Pentecost the kick-off to the Church's mission of world-wide evangelization? And the Bear means Old Evangelization, not sitting-on-your-butt and issuing news releases about New Evangelizing yourself. Isn't the role of evangelist the sine qua non of the Church Militant?

You know, it's not anymore. People might get offended. 

The Bear's son said today that people confuse being nice with being good. That's about right. Be naughty this week. Good and naughty. Tell them a talking Bear said it was okay. 

The Bear's working on something quite naughty, but he doesn't really want to labor today. It might be a couple of days, before showing up here.

Bear Danger Awareness Month might have to be extended.

The Rhine Flows Into the Tiber -- Again

Rorate Caeli has the frightening  news. Hopefully the conservative Bishops won't be blindsided this time.

Anyone Else Think This Is Interesting?

Remember when the UN Committee on Rights of the Child blasted the Vatican over damaging the psyches of "homosexual children" by condemning homosexuality? Remember how it demanded predatory priests be handed over to Law enforcement?

Have we heard any more about this lately?

Now that the Bear thinks about it, the UN seems to have a higher opinion of the Church! That's great! Right?

Three Eggs In a Peppermint Patch

All the animals of the Bear's small freehold of Zoar are quite friendly. (Except for the rooster.) In fact one of our goats is so friendly we re-named him to The People's Goat. But for sheer enthusiasm none can compare with The Friendliest Hen In the World. (Yes, that's her name.) When she spies anyone with her bright chicken eye she runs straight to them, her fluffy golden wings outstretched like a child who wants to be picked up.

Of course even The Friendliest Hen In the World has to pull her weight around the farm. She is a layer. Last week it was apparent that egg production was a bit off. A pall of suspicion fell over the hen house. Who was the slacker?

It turned out The Friendliest Hen In the World had gone rogue. She had a nice little clutch of three eggs in a peppermint patch. Poor thing. She was just trying to become a mother. But on a farm, rules are rules and eggs are for breakfast. No exception, even for The Friendliest Hen In the World.

Germans: Now Screwing Up 21st Century, Too

This is the problem: beer-fueled, lascivious folk dancing.

Cardinal Marx is waving the results of that mischievous survey on the family at the Pope, while threatening that Germany is "not a branch of Rome." Cardinal Marx may speak closer to the truth than he knows. What the Germans want, apparently, is the blessing of mutual sodomy pacts, remarriage in the Church after divorce, and communion for non-Catholic spouses.

Meanwhile Germany isn't competent to decide these issues since only 54% of priests bother to go to confession even once a year, only 58% pray daily, 60% of their parishioners don't believe in life after death, and 66% don't believe in the resurrection of Christ! Yep, just the kind of mature Catholics who can be trusted to reset Catholic moral teaching.

St. Corbinian had similar troubles with the Germans in Cardinal Marx's very own see, Munich-Freising. Only he was a saint. And he had a pet Bear. Ironically, St. Corbinian condemned the wicked marriage of the local warlord and had to flee for his life. Cardinal Marx would probably be fine with blessing it.

Can anyone connect the dots from Pope Francis' support of Cardinal Kasper on these same issues to Cardinal Marx thinking now is the moment to move?

Read the full story here at Rorate Caeli .

A Strange Experience

The Bear and his mate were in the St. Louis area, and stopped to eat on the east side of the Mississippi at a Thai restaurant. As the Bear made his way to the restroom to wash his paws, he passed a man sitting at a booth with a little girl. If you had to pick a celebrity to describe him you might pick Kenny Rogers, although you wouldn't be real close. He had a blue shirt on.

We were still waiting for someone to take our order when the man stepped up and asked to have a word with the Bear. Being the obliging sort, the Bear started to get up, but no, he said, that wasn't necessary. He put his hand on the Bear's shoulder and first announced he (the man) had been cured of cancer. Then he prayed for the Bear. It started something like this:

"Heavenly Father, I don't know what's ailing this Bear, but You do."

Really that's all the Bear remembers, but the gist of it was that the Bear gets to feeling better.

Then he just left, without saying goodbye, as least so far as the Bear can remember.

The Bear pondered the sincerity, spontaneity, and courage of the act, not to mention the kindness. He also considered how accurate the prayer was. Without going into non-blog territory, you may have noticed SCB hasn't been tended as diligently as it has been in the past.

The Bear doesn't have any more to say about it; res ipsa loquitur, as lawyers say.

New Survey Shows U.S. Church in Decline

A new survey by the Pew Research Center shows Christianity in decline in America. The news is especially bad for mainline Protestant churches and the Roman Catholic Church. These have dropped about 3 percentage points since 2007. The median age of adult Catholics rose from from 45 to 49. That means the Church is getting older.

There are also roughly 3 million fewer American Catholics than in 2007. When you account for margins of error and other factors, though, the loss may have been "just" 1 million. In general, Catholic numbers have been more stable over the long term as compared to the steady decline of mainline Protestants, but that appears to have changed.

Evangelical Protestants fared the best, dropping only a point.

One-third of American adults say they were raised Catholic. Among that group, fully 41% no longer identify with Catholicism. So 12.9% of adult Americans are former Catholics, whereas only 2% have converted to Catholicism from another religion. Pew says "no other religious group in the survey has such a lopsided ration of losses to gains."

Evangelical Protestants, on the other hand, have picked up more than they have lost, the only group to do so.

The West has the greatest non-affiliated (i.e. no declared belief) population, at 25%.

What the Bear finds most interesting is that Catholic Church and the mainline Protestant churches -- which the Catholic Church has tried to model itself after -- show an almost identical rate of decline at approximately 3 percent.

It isn't sundown on the Church in America, but it is later in the day than you think.

The Day the Book Closed

At Et Cum Spiritu Tuo, I read an interview with a professor in the UK who said parents who read to their kids should feel bad for "disadvantaging" other children.

After the eyeroll at this moronic statement, the Bear felt a pang of loss.

The Bear read to his cubs for years. When we lived in Sicily, he read J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, although really only his oldest could fully appreciate it. So we read the whole thing again later, after we moved back to the States, plus The Hobbit. Every night, without fail, we would read a chapter of some book, and usually two, when the kids would plead, "Please, just one more chapter!" The Bear would always make a show of sighing and closing the book at the end of the evening's reading, but the old fraud had a finger marking his place.

Aside from The Velveteen Rabbit (which always made the Bear cry at the end), the Bear doesn't remember many children's books. The Old Limey, was more typical.

What happens when a reactionary, retired British brigadier general comes to Los Angeles looking for his missing god-daughter? Comic chaos, that's what, with California beach babes, Jamaican drug gangs, and other colorful characters feuding and fighting in a mad search and rescue operation.

The Bear's daughter, our youngest, said just yesterday how much she loved that book. There was The Sixth Column, and Starship Troopers, by Robert Heinlein. She, by H. Rider Haggard. (The Bear can still remember one of the twins crying when, near the end, his favorite character plunged to his death.) There was the incredible time-twisting The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers, and The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett. Some of the Narnia books by C.S. Lewis.

There were literally dozens of titles over the years. All the time they were growing up, the cubs -- and the Bear's mate, too -- every night shared a love of reading with the Bear, who didn't just read, but did all the different character voices, too!

Eventually, it became harder to round everyone up for reading time. Once in awhile there would be no-shows. Finally, one evening -- we were on the hilarious over-the-top  Pyrates by George MacDonald Fraser -- only the Bear's daughter was left, his youngest.

We never made it through Pyrates. One evening, no one came, the book was closed, and it was not opened again.

And that explains the pang the Bear felt when he read the article about reading to your children.

Of course, it had to come to an end. Now that you mention it, hopefully the Bear did confer an advantage upon his cubs, or at least a love of reading.

All things come to an end. But the Bear knows that, on some cool autumn evening, when dry leaves are rustling beneath the window, one of the Bear's children will open up a book again, and read to his or her own children.

And they will do the voices.

Sedevacantist Bear?

Novus Ordo Watch is a sedevacantist website. As you probably know, sedevacantists hold that the chair of Peter has no legitimate occupant, i.e. Pope Francis (and every pope after Pius XII) is a fraud. So when Novus Ordo Watch picked up the Bear's piece, The Church of Everyone -- But You, the Bear had to think a bit.

If you look at the Church post-Pius XII, you can't deny the sedevacantists have plenty of evidence to support, how shall we put it, not so much a sickness in the Church, nor even an injury, but brutal and sustained torture. Only "the tortured Church" captures the malice, cruelty, danger and grief we have experienced over the last fifty years.

The Church has changed. Better, the Church has been afflicted by a multitude of changes, vandalized by wrong-headed and malicious people. Under Pope Francis, the changes have come at a dizzying rate, and they are not for the better.

So why, then, is the Bear not a sedevacantist?

Simply put, the Bear believes we can have destructive popes, men who are, for all their folly and mischief, still pope. The Church can be tortured, yet survive. The gates of Hell will not prevail against it, but beyond that there are no guarantees. The Bear cannot bring himself to accept that God would allow the Catholic "brand" to be taken over by anti-popes for half a century with no end in sight. A billion-plus souls look to Rome and Peter. Looking to Peter, even with his flaws, if only as a marker of legitimacy and unity, is the Catholic thing to do.

The final reason the Bear is not a sedevacantist is that is just doesn't feel right. When looking at sedevacantist websites, the Bear has the same gut feeling as when he looks at 9-11 truther websites. Yes, the individual facts seem like they could be right, but the whole thing lacks balance. The evidence to the contrary is not considered. Ultimately, asking someone to believe everything they know is wrong is asking a lot.

Sedevacantism, for all its fevered sincerity and impressive collection of individual exhibits, is extinguished by the Bear's apostolate of holy stubbornness: nail your foot to the floor in front of your favorite pew and die there. You've got to throw in with someone, after all, and for it's current disfigurement, the Bear throws in with the Church of Rome and Peter.

Free Speech Wars, Garland, Texas Front (UPDATE: U.S. BASES INCREASE THREAT LEVEL)

UPDATE: U.S. Military Bases Raise Threat Level to "Force Protection Bravo -- Increased and Predictable Threat of Terrorism."

Pamela Geller

Here's a chance for the Bear to polish his interfaith / political correctness credentials, as many wobbly conservatives are doing. What's that? The Bear doesn't have any? Oh, dear. Well, it is Bear Danger Awareness Month.

First, here's Pamela Geller's Bear-Approved website. What she did in Garland, Texas was indeed provocative and dangerous. It also proved a point that people still fail to grasp. It exposed just how close the Muslim threat is, and how fragile free speech is. As a bonus, we flushed out two dangerous jihadis at no loss of innocent lives. The Bear bets we're already gathering valuable intel on the next level up.

See the picture above. Does anything strike you as odd? Muslims attack us, and we are the ones who have to be reminded to be nice? This is a standard tactic: play the victim card. Close down discussion. You don't want to be a hater, do you?

The condemnation of Pamela Geller's free speech exercise in Garland, Texas by L'Osservatore Romano was unintentionally hilarious, as were thousands across the globe. They might as well have said that Muslims are mad dogs who can't control themselves when something (Muhammad drawing, accidental Quran burning, the historical fact of First Crusade, Friday) triggers their irresistible urge to kill. Because in their warnings not to do anything that might offend our delicate Muslim cousins, they not only damn free speech, but could not be more condescending to the very people they're trying to protect. They're like Bear Safety Tips.

The Bear would not be the first to draw a comparison to someone blaming rape on the way women dress. "Geller had it coming." Oh, come to think of it, the last person the Bear remembers doing that was Chief Australian Muslim cleric Taj al-Din al-Hilawi in 2006.

Sheik Hilawi was quoted as saying: "If you take out uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the back yard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it... whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat? The uncovered meat is the problem." Yep, ladies, better keep that cat-meat covered!

Pope Francis, who never saw a religion he didn't like -- except some elements of Catholicism -- has said you cannot make fun of another religion.

Drawing a picture of a supposedly historical figure is not making fun of any religion. Giving some group advance veto power over speech is the end of free speech in principle.

Here is a basketball team picture of one of the jihadis, Elton (a.k.a. Ibrihim) Simpson.

It has since come out that Simpson was on probation for lying to the FBI about trying to travel to Somalia to further his interest in jihad. The Government put on plenty of evidence of Simpson's determination to engage in jihad, through an informant at Simpson's mosque.

Interestingly, the imam at the mosque warned members of a possible informant. This imam looks like gang boss Avon Barksdale from The Wire, obsessing on wiretaps and snitches. Why is he more concerned with uncovering the FBI than terrorists? Was this a "bad" mosque, or typical? (The Bear supposes it's a pretty good one to post $100,000 cash bond for Simpson. Do you think your parish could or would do the same for you?)

The case against Simpson fizzled when the Government relied on an FBI agent for the second part of its case. It had to prove that Simpson's destination, Somalia, raised the terrorism flag. The Government used the same FBI agent who had investigated the case. The the judge was unimpressed with his expert witness credentials. (The Bear can promise you it would have been enough before the federal judges he practices in front of!)

Simpson should have been in a federal prison, not Garland, Texas, armed to kill as many innocent people as he could. 

The other gunman, Nadir Soofi seems to have been the "junior partner." His mother, Sharon Soofi, was a divorced, Catholic nurse. Soofi was 34, had a 9-year-old son and ran a pizza parlor.

But the more religious he became, he quickly became more radical. 

It is difficult to read these testimonials without a sense of exasperation. With all due respect for the grieving Soofi family, and for loss of human life – no matter how misguided or evil – in the Garland attack, these are very obvious warning signs. Nadir Soofi was ranting about America’s role in Middle Eastern conflicts, sending his mother DVDs of sermons from one of al-Qaeda’s top recruiters and spiritual leaders, and hanging around with a man who got busted by the FBI for trying to join the jihad in Somalia.

Texas Terror Shooters Parents Say He Was Pushed Into Jihad, Brietbart.

Their mosque didn't stop them, and their parents didn't stop them. Somebody should have tried. Especially Soofi, it seems, might have been stopped at some point.

There is a group of Muslims who want to live here, but they don't understand freedom. We believe the cure for bad speech is better speech. What if every time there was a drawing of Muhammad, Muslims would use it as a teaching moment and explain the role Muhammad plays in their religion and lives?

Just to say that is to bring a sigh of hopelessness. That's not the way they are. Catholics endured horrible discrimination and ridicule in our nation's newspapers. But we hung in there, blended into the societal fabric, and today, well, today we are attacked for other reasons, after a brief peace. But we are able to use free speech to defend and educate. Muslim's aren't in that program, however. They use violence, and by hate-shaming us into silence. They're the group that needs to be in a discussion, if not as part of one, then as the subject of one. That's why we need to protect freedom. But it doesn't look good. Here's what Facebook did to the winner of Geller's contest.

 Bears get irony.

Bear Safety Tips

Hey, a ranger ought to know, right?

Pro-Abort Conference at Vatican

First off, May is Bear Danger Awareness Month. Why is it called that? Hint: Bear + Danger = well, Danger. (From bears.) Throughout the month of May the Bear will share some public service announcements to help get you through Bear Danger Awareness Month safely. 

But today, we have an example of why the Bear gets his news from more than one source. Some of the Bear's readers don't like Michael Matt. No, not at all. But the Bear, being an omnivore, enjoys his show for the discussion of issues higher than below-the-Pope. The Bear should warn you that every time you watch an episode, Michael Voris kills a kitten with his sword.

 .

 Pro-Abort Conference at Vatican

Introducing Climate Change Bear (TM)

Dear Pope Francis,

I know we have not seen eye-to-eye on a lot of topics, and some of my blog articles might be considered, well, disrespectful.

But you need me for your big climate change campaign. Sure, you've got the UN, most of the world's governments, and anybody else that would happily put a thumb in the Church's eye. And you, too, of course. But there's one thing you don't have.

A mascot.

Oh, sure, I know what you're thinking. The polar bears standing on little islands of ice like, "Oh no, what are we to do? This is the last ice in the Arctic! The rest has all melted!" Seriously, is the ice melting faster than a polar bear can swim to safety?

Picture from anti-global warming site. FRAUD!

Puh-leez. There is plenty of evidence to show the polar bear population is increasing. And the Bear is sure any outfit that fakes temperature data can put out whatever they want to the contrary about polar bear populations. Who are you going to believe, a bunch of atheistic, lefty hustlers who also support abortion and gay marriage?

Anyway, you don't want to have anything to do with those seal-breath killing machines. And as far as polar bear populations go, I can toe the company line, nudge-nudge, wink-wink. "Yes, the polar bears are all drowning. Poor cute, white, fluffy things." (And I'm brown, by the way. Just saying. World-wide relatability.)

There's one thing you need, and that's the Bear! The World's only Real Bear Catholic Blogger! Okay, now that that is settled, the Bear will need a little quid pro quo, if you know what I mean. That's Latin for a little sumpin' sumpin' for the talent, your favorite Ursus Arctos. That's Latin for "bear" of the "north." (Not sure how up on the ol' Latin you are, no offense.)

First, the Bear is a credible representative of the raw majesty of Nature. So it would be great if human beings would all kneel before him. I'm just going to assume we're good on that one. If poor people  are knee-worthy, then a bear is a no-brainer. (Wouldn't be the first time someone, say a hiker, has knelt before a bear LOL.)

Next, I can't help but notice that I'm poor :-(

Yeah, maybe I sleep a lot, am overweight, lack marketable skills and motivation, and don't have a job. But if you put all the factors contributing to my poverty on one side, what you're left with on the other is the undeniable fact that the Bear is poor and you're -- with all due respect -- not. Therefore, the Bear must be poor because humans took his money. That's climate change logic. See, the Bear gets it. He's not some dumb polar bear. That's why he will be your perfect spokesanimal.

Here in the woodlands, the Bear has to make do with a modest bungalow. The Bear can't believe how little he's settling for, but here goes. A nice house with a big room for entertaining the woodland creatures. A swimming pool. Cable. And a pony.

Twice a week.

A percentage of sales of all Climate Change Bear (just a suggestion on the name) merchandise, to be negotiated by the Bear's agent.

Finally, an agent.

Well, that ought to do it. I'm confident that you will see just how badly the global warming change sustainability thing, you know -- our thing -- needs the Bear. Hey you know what "our thing" is in Italian? La Cosa Nostra. LOL

Your loyal subject
The Bear

John Corapi Naked

Sometimes the Bear enjoys checking out his blog stats. One of the more entertaining is Google search terms. It works like this: someone types in a search, and if Google sends them to SCB, that gets reported. The other day what should show up but JOHN CORAPI NAKED.

The Bear doesn't know which is more disturbing: that someone would Google that to begin with, or that the Bear its running the sort of blog that Google believes might have naked pictures of John Corapi.

Google also sent someone to the blog who had typed GAY BEAR BLOGSPOT. Oh dear. That is perhaps more understandable. The Bear can only imagine their surprise and disappointment to land on a militant heterosexual site, instead of one featuring bulky, hirsute men.

No doubt this post will help cement SCB as the best place to go for naked pictures of John Corapi. So welcome, friends! The Flying Fickle Finger of Fate has brought you here for a reason. The best part is that on the internet, no one will be the wiser.

A Frank Talk About Papa

We are so used to Pope Francis' eccentricities we hardly ever see the big picture anymore. Let us first realize that the Papacy is an office with a rich tradition and global power. It demands ordinary prudence, at the least, and respect for its dignity. To put it another way, the Pope should be a grown-up who recognizes that he is part of something bigger than himself and acts accordingly.

Pope Francis, with all due respect, has not demonstrated this capacity. If there is one word that sums up his personality, it is narcissistic.

Someone who is narcissistic thinks of himself as exceptional. He craves the approval of others, yet he lacks empathy. He exhibits grandiosity: self-centeredness and feelings of entitlement. He feels superior to others, and is condescending. He needs to be the focus of attention of others. Comments and criticisms of others can be vicious.

These descriptions are taken from diagnostic criteria for Narcissistic Personality Disorder.

The Bear is not claiming to diagnose the Pope. Yet, think back on his papacy, and the way Francis bounces from one scandal to another like a pinball, seemingly unaware of the damage he causes and unable to stop himself. Recall how he seems to consider the papacy as his own personal belonging. That is not humility. Even his acts of "humility" often seem to feature the imposition of his will upon tradition.

What about criticism of those who don't agree with him? Here is a lengthy collection of his insults. "Rosary counter," and "self-absorbed, Promethean neo-Pelagian" are just the start. (Who can forget "Bat Christian?")

Now here we are waiting on a papal encyclical based on the controversial topic of climate change. Once again, Pope Francis can bask in the spotlight. As the Bear pointed out in his last article, Catholics are required to give "religious assent," i.e. agreement, to such a document. How this is going to work out in practice the Bear has no idea, but it doesn't matter. On the possibly fraudulent or misguided science of climate change, "Roma locuta est, causa finita est."

The Church works when grownups are in charge. Frankly, we could add when people who do not exhibit symptoms of mental illness are in charge. Should there be an odd-ball, the sheep can only be unsettled and mistrustful. Even worse, what does this say about the Church? We are expected to swallow an encyclical on dubious science because we believe the Pope has divine assistance to get it right.

The Pope expects assent to his climate change encyclical. The faithful expect a Pope who is not incompetent. We seem to be at an impasse.