Thursday, October 29, 2009

Upcoming Holy/Feast Days (and All Hallows' Eve)

October 2009

November 2009
1 All Saints
2 All Souls
3 St. Martin de Porres
3 Ven. Solanus Casey

Sorry, I "caught" this part of the liturgical calendar a little too late to be posting St. Jude's feast day (which was yesterday.) Here are 3 feast days in November (and a day in October to "feast" on candy-lol! OK, that may not be the purpose of a feast day-but some of us love to "stuff" ourselves with candy-or at least have a few chocolates to nibble on.)

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Beginning of Monastic and Scholastic Theology

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News
Pope, at audience, traces first flowering of monastic and scholastic theology October 28, 2009
At his regular weekly public audience on Wednesday, October 28, Pope Benedict XVI continued his series of talks on the development of Christian thought, moving into the 12th century with its enormous expansion of theological studies. The Gregorian reform had taken effect, the Pope said, bringing "a greater evangelical purity" to the Church, and among the results were the development on monastic and scholastic theology, which would produce the great works of Sts. Bonaventure and Thomas Aquinas in the 13th century.
Monastic theology, the Holy Father said, was characterized by a careful attention to the Word of God. He recommended that approach today, urging to faith "to reserve a certain time each day for meditation on the Bible." The scholastic approach, he continued, developed the style of argument known as the quaestion, which is "not easy for modern mentality to understand." But behind that unfamiliar form was the clear recognition that "faith and reason, in reciprocal dialogue, tremble with joy when they are both animated by the search for intimate union with God."
Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
Latin Theology Flourished in the 12th Century (VIS)

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Do We Have to Close the Hospitals?

Columbian High Court: Catholic Hospitals Must Provide Abortions!!!

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News
Colombian high court rules Catholic hospitals must provide abortions October 28, 2009
Claiming that mothers “enjoy a right to decide, free from any pressure, coercion, urging, manipulation and, in general, any sort of inadmissible intervention, to terminate a pregnancy” when abortion is permitted by law, the Colombian Constitutional Court has ruled that all hospitals, whether secular or religious, must retain doctors who are willing to perform abortions. The court also ruled that Catholic schools must educate students about their “abortion rights”-- a ruling that Catholic officials vowed to disobey.
Following a request from the nation’s pro-life inspector general, the Council of State has temporarily put the ruling on hold.
Since 2006, abortion has been legal in Colombia in the cases of rape, incest, certain birth defects, and threats to the mother’s life or health.
Source(s): these links will take you to other sites, in a new window.
Center Praises Momentous Decision in Abortion Case in Colombia (Center for Reproductive Rights)
Catholic officials protest court ruling to teach about abortion rights (CNS)
Colombia's Council of State suspends regulations permitting abortion (CNA)
Abortion under attack (Colombia Reports)
State Council suspends abortion decree (Colombia Reports)

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Posted by: hartwood - Today 1:19 PM ET USA
no recourse but to close all Catholic hospitals there,what a travesty!

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

White Ribbon Against Pornography

NEWS RELEASE from MORALITY IN MEDIA, INC.
475 Riverside Drive, Suite 1264, New York, NY 10115
Contact: Robert Peters 1-212-870-3210
Purpose of this week’s White Ribbon Against Pornography Week (Oct. 25 – Nov. 1) is to raise public awareness about the hardcore pornography problem and to promote enforcement of obscenity and related laws NEW YORK (October 26, 2009)(Italics mine)

This year, the annual White Ribbon Against Pornography (WRAP) Week runs Sunday, Oct. 25, through Sunday, Nov. 1. WRAP Week is intended to inform the public and public officials about the harms of pornography and the need to enforce obscenity and related laws. Resources for individuals and groups are available at www.moralityinmedia.org ("WRAP Campaign"). These include information about ordering white ribbons and a sheet describing what citizens can do during WRAP Week and throughout the year, sample letter to U.S. Attorney General Holder, sample letter to state prosecutors, sample Proclamation, and sample prayers and sermons. MIM President Robert Peters had the following comments: "Our nation is facing a moral crisis which is giving rise to, among other things, teen promiscuity, sexually transmitted diseases (including AIDS), abortions, children born to single mothers, divorces, sexual abuse of children, rape, trafficking in women and children, on-the-job sexual harassment and lost worker productivity. The costs associated with these problems are incalculable. "It is clear that the explosion of hardcore pornography on the Internet and elsewhere is fueling this moral crisis. It is also clear that ignoring the problem (the Clinton administration) and failing to take necessary steps to effectively curb the problem (the Bush administration) won’t solve the problem. "The government's ongoing failure to enforce federal obscenity laws should be a matter of great concern to President Obama and Attorney General Holder. "While enforcement of obscenity laws is not the whole answer to the pornography problem, vigorous enforcement will put many hardcore pornographers out of business and encourage others to get or stay out. It will also send the message that pornography is a moral and social evil. Youth especially need to hear this message. "The Supreme Court has held that obscenity laws can be enforced against ‘hardcore pornography,’ and these days most commercially distributed pornography is ‘hardcore.’ Among other things, hardcore pornography depicts teen promiscuity, group sex, gang bangs, marital infidelity, sex with prostitutes, siblings and animals, sex mixed with excrement, and the rape and torture of women. "The Court has also said there are ‘legitimate governmental interests’ at stake in stemming the tide of commercialized obscenity, which include protecting public safety, family life, and morality, and maintaining a decent society. "Clearly, children also need protection both from exposure to hardcore pornography and from sexual predators who use this material to groom their victims and arouse themselves." Support Morality in Media, Inc.'s Work to Fight Obscenity Forward this message to a friend Morality in Media, Inc.475 Riverside Drive, Suite 1264New York, NY 101151-212-870-3222 Phone1-212-870-2765 Faxmim@moralityinmedia.orghttp://www.moralityinmedia.orghttp://www.obscenitycrimes.org MORALITY IN MEDIA, INC is a national, [501(c)(3)], interfaith organization established in 1962 to combat obscenity and uphold decency standards in the media. It maintains the National Obscenity Law Center, a clearinghouse of legal materials on obscenity law. MIM operates the ObscenityCrimes.org Web site, where citizens can report possible violations of federal Internet obscenity laws to Federal prosecutors. Donations are tax-deductible.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Lefebvrists Want to Come Back

Talks between the Vatican and Lefebvrists have begun

2009-10-26 13:20:34 Printer Friendly Printer Friendly Send to a Friend Send to a Friend



October 26, 2009. Traditional Lefebvrists want to return to the Catholic Church and the Vatican has agreed to start to discuss the conditions for their potential come back.

In the first meeting at the Vatican, the two delegations drafted a plan and work schedule.

The Lefebvrists don’t accept certain points of the teachings of recent popes nor some principles of the Second Vatican Council, like religious freedom, the possibility of dialogue with other religions and churches and collegiality among bishops.

In January, Benedict XVI lifted the excommunication of the bishops ordained irregularly by Marcel Lefebvre.
But since their status is still unclear they’re not considered part of the Catholic hierarchy.

According to their data, Lefebvrists have more than 400 priests, several hundred religious and seminarians and about 100,000 followers worldwide.

PVB/MC - JM

Friday, October 23, 2009

Pro-Life Student Isolated for Joining Abortion Awareness Day

From:
Pro-Life Canadian Student Placed in Isolation for Joining Abortion Awareness Day

by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 21, 2009
http://www.lifenews .com/int1367. html

Petersborough, Canada (LifeNews.com) -- The story of a pro-life student in Canada is generating concerns for the pro-life group that sponsored the recent Pro-Life Silent Day of Solidarity. Jennifer Rankin arrived at Peninsula Shores ready to participate in the event but found herself placed in isolation.

Hundreds of thousands of pro-life advocates joined the silent day on Tuesday wearing red tape on their mouths or red armbands to protest the millions of abortions that take place in Canada and the United States.

Rankin joined them by wearing red tape and preparing to pass out a flier to anyone who asked her why she would remain silent throughout the school day.

Instead, a school principal alerted police and met Rankin and her mother at the entrance where she told them that the protest is not welcome at the school. Ultimately, school officials allowed Rankin into the building but kept her in isolation away from other students.

"I was taken directly into a small room that was opposite the vice-principal' s office and I was in there all day," Rankin told the Petersborough Examiner newspaper. "I wasn't allowed to speak with or see any other students and students were not allowed to come and see me and I was isolated in that room for the entire day."

She told the paper that she feels she was subject to unfair discrimination because of her pro-life views.

"I felt very discriminated by it. I don't think it was right at all what happened," Rankin said.

School principal Pat Cavan told the Examiner that the protest violated school policy.

"School property is not a public place," Cavan said. "So while absolutely we support the right to free speech in a public space, that's not school property."

Cavan said she told Rankin about how she could not participate in the protest days in advance and Rankin was the only student to show interest after school officials stopped her and her friends last year.

Bryan Kemper, the head of Stand True ministries, the national sponsor of the Silent Day campaign, told LifeNews.com he is disappointed by the incident.

"What happened to Jennifer is atrocious and the principal of the school should be charged with child abuse. The punishment he gave Jennifer is that of a criminal charged with a violent crime, not a young girl who was speaking out for life and against violence," he said.

"I am in shock that the principal would be standing there with police cruisers waiting to arrest a child for voicing an opinion. This honestly sounds like a plot to some futuristic movie, this can't be the times we live in now can it?" he added.

Kemper called Jennifer a "true hero who should be applauded for her courage and willingness to sacrifice."

"I would be so proud if my daughters turned out as amazing as Jennifer," he said.

Related web sites:
Silent Day - http://www.silentda y.org

Why Not Mary?

VirginMary LifeMost of us who are Catholics eventually get asked, “Why do you Catholics worship Mary?” More often than not the question is not a real question it is a rhetorical question. For a few of you who might not know what is meant by the expression “rhetorical question,” it refers to a “question” whose purpose is not to seek an answer, but, rather, to make a (usually hostile) point. For example the expression “Who do you think you are!?” is in the form of a question but it does not seek an answer. Instead it is meant as a rebuke. And so it usually is when we Catholics get asked the “question” Why do you worship Mary?” we’re usually aware that it is not a sincere question seeking a sincere answer. However, for those cases where an answer really is sought I might propose the following approach:

“Well, of course we don’t worship Mary since that would be a terrible sin. Worship belongs to God alone. We DO honor her though. Afterall, she is Jesus’ mother. But let me ask you a question. Why in your church, do you NOT honor Mary at all? Doesn’t scripture say Every generation will call [Mary] blessed because God who is mighty has done great things for [her]? (Luke 1:48-49) It seems to me that we Catholics are fulfilling scripture but that in your denomination you are not fulfilling or following it. So why don’t you honor her at all? Why don’t you call her blessed as the Bible says?”

Now stop there and wait for an answer. Don’t keep going. Just stop and wait. Have them answer for a change. We Catholics are always on the defensive, always in answer mode. But we ought to ask a few questions too. And try to avoid a merely rhetorical or hostile tone. Try to allow this question to be genuine, respectful, one meant to provoke thought. It is possible that many Protestants have never been asked this question or pondered an answer. Now it is also possible that your interlocutor will try to change the subject or evade an answer by piling on about Catholics but just repeat the question respectfully and ask for an answer. Remember your point is not to argue, be hostile or win an argument. Your point is to provoke thought and get a real answer. And even if the conversation ends badly or with no answer, you’ve planted a seed, a question that they will ponder even if they don’t admit it. Jesus often asked questions to proke thought and conversion. I will be doing a post on this next week.

A final thought on Mary. Another way to explain out devotion and love for Mary is that we are imitating Jesus. We love, honor, respect and entrust ourselves to her care because Jesus did all these things and we want to be just like Jesus. Consider that the very Son of God, dwelled in Mary’s womb, nursed at her breasts, was held in her arms, sat on her lap and entrusted himself to her care. Our Lord could have chosen to enter our world in other ways. Perhaps He could simply have entered the world as a full grown man. The fact is that He freely chose Mary to be his mother and he was truly her Son. As her son he loved and honored her as any good son must and as her son he entrusted himself to her care. All of this serves to highlight Mary’s dignity and to show us how devotion to her is in perfect imitation of Jesus himself.

What more need we say: Jesus our Lord and God honors and loves Mary, and his very scriptures sing her praises; so too His Angel Gabriel and countless saints. When we honor Mary we imitate the very Son of God and fulfill Holy Scripture. Certainly our Lord is pleased that we love and honor his mother.

Here’s a little viseo I recently put together. The Music is from the Daughters of St Paul, “I Am Thine” from the Handmaiden of the Lord Album:

St. Therese Behind Anglican Ordinariate

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Anglican Bishop Confirms St. Therese is Behind Anglican Ordinariate

Yesterday we conveyed the suspicion of former Episcopal and now Kansas City Catholic priest, Father Ernie Davis, that the intercession of St. Therese of Lisieux was behind the Vatican’s move to provide a structure to welcome Anglicans into full communion. Now, the Anglican Catholic Bishop of Canada strongly confirms that thought.

Father Davis, who leads St. Therese Little Flower parish in Kansas City which hosts an Anglican Use community, wrote of the news from the Vatican:

Anglicans and Catholics flocked to visit the relics of Saint Therese of Lisieux as they made a very recent pilgrimage to England. Her relics rested on her 2009 feast day at York Minster, the Cathedral of the Anglican Archbishop of York. When I read about that, I told the people here at St. Therese Little Flower that she was working on something big. In other words, preparations for this Apostolic Constitution have been in process for 170 years, and some of the preparations have been made at levels that are higher than popes.

The Traditional Anglican Communion Bishop of Canada saw the claim and sent an email today to Father Davis with remarkable details of St. Therese’ intercession. Here’s the email:

Dear Father Davis,

Your story about the Anglican Ordinariate and St Therese (which came to me via England this morning) is very interesting. And I can tell you another connexion with her.

I am the Anglican Catholic Bishop of Canada in the TAC. I was present at the Synod of TAC Bishops in Portsmouth England in October 2007 which voted unanimously to ask for full communion, and signed the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The first full day of the Synod was October 1st, the 'new' date of St Therese's feast, and the actual vote to ask for full communion was taken on October 3rd 'old' date of her feast.

I also accompanied the Primate and Bishop Robert Mercer CR to deliver the Letter to the CDF where we had been directed by the Holy Father. My friend Mother Teresa of the Carmel in Edmonton had given me some holy cards with a piece of cloth touched to her relics. Each of us carried one of these cards, and we asked St Therese's prayers on our venture. We also had similar cards from Poland of the Servant of God John Paul II.

I have continued 'to bother her' about a favourable response to our request, and now thanks to the generosity and love of the Holy Father who has taken a personal interest in us for many years, and the prayers of St Therese, something wonderful has come about.

God bless you,

+Peter Wilkinson, OSG
Bishop Ordinary
Anglican Catholic Church of Canada
TAC

Father Davis has posted the letter at his blog, which is also on our blog roll. He's been quiet for a while, working on a book, but I'll bet it'll be worth checking in there as things progress.

Vatican-Convert SSPX to Personal Prelature?

Vatican could convert Lefebvrists into personal prelature, says Fellay
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.- In an interview with the Chilean daily, “El Mercurio,” the Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X, Bernard Fellay, acknowledged that the Vatican is considering the possibility of converting the Lefebvrist group into a personal prelature as part of the discussions aimed at bringing about reconciliation.

Fellay, who visited members of the SSPX movement in Chile, is one of four bishops whose excommunication was lifted by Pope Benedict XVI last January. Asked about the speculation that the Society of Pius X could be made into a personal prelature similar to Opus Dei, Fellay responded, “There is a lot of truth to that. I think the Vatican is moving towards that kind of canonical solution.”

He also noted that the controversy unleashed by Bishop Richard Williamson’s statements on the Nazi holocaust “was a well-planned attack, not against the Society, but directly against the person of Pope Benedict XVI, in order to tarnish his gesture.”

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Too Many Laws Send Grandma to Jail

Too Many Laws Send Grandma to Jail
Chuck Colson
BreakPoint
October 19, 2009
Lisa Snyder is the kind of neighbor everybody likes to have. Every school day, the Michigan mom welcomed neighborhood children into her home—kids whose mothers have to leave for work an hour before the school bus picks up the kids. Snyder didn't charge anything—she just wanted to be a good neighbor.
But then someone reported Snyder to the authorities—and the state of Michigan told her to stop babysitting, or else. The Michigan Department of Human Services said if Snyder wanted to take care of unrelated kids in her home, she had to get a daycare license.
It's an example of laws gone wild—too many regulations, and too little common sense.
And that's not even the worst example. Last March an Indiana grandmother named Sally Harpold was arrested for buying two boxes of cold medicine in less than a week. That's illegal, if the combined boxes contain more than three grams of pseudoephedrine. They did—which put Harpold in violation of state laws regulating methamphetamine, which can be made from pseudoephedrine.
Harpold—who was handcuffed and booked—wasn't running a meth lab. She was buying medicine for her three sick grandchildren. But the local prosecutor was unapologetic. Harpold, she said, ought to have known the law.
That might be easier if there weren't so many local, state, and federal laws to keep track of. While Harpold is catching up on her legal reading, maybe the prosecutor can take care of her sick grandchildren.
Happily, in Michigan, common sense prevailed. Governor Jennifer Granholm ordered the Department of Human Services to work with lawmakers to change the daycare law to protect people who are simply trying to be good neighbors.
Sally Harpold was not so fortunate. She had to go into an alternative punishment program, and pay attorney fees and court costs.
With cases like these, it's no wonder Americans are growing increasingly distrustful of government—and of the growing numbers of laws and regulations that are making daily life, well, difficult!
Part of the problem is that we have lost the biblical view of the role of government, which is to preserve order, restrain evil, and promote justice. Government has no legitimate interest in slapping the helping hands of citizens like Lisa Snyder. Rather, government should promote neighborly charity! When it comes to helping a neighbor in trouble, government is not the answer. Good neighbors are.
The Reformers understood this, and called it "sphere sovereignty." Each institution—family, church, and the private associations—knew their job.
In Catholic social teaching, it was called the principle of "subsidiarity," recognizing that the interests of individuals are best served by the institution closest to them.
In both traditions, government should perform only those functions which can't be performed by these "intermediate structures."
But the other part of the "laws-gone-wild problem" is we ourselves. As the moral order of society breaks down, government—and its laws—step in to fill the void and to prevent chaos.
Indiana banned buying too much cold medicine because of the plague of methamphetamine. When we can no longer master our own cravings and inclinations to evil—in other words, when we can no longer govern ourselves—we invite government intervention. And grandmas like Sally Harpold get dragged off in handcuffs.
Time to wake up and apply biblical teachings to the role of government and the individual.
Chuck Colson's daily
BreakPoint commentary airs each weekday on more than one thousand outlets with an estimated listening audience of one million people. BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today's news and trends via radio, interactive media, and print.
Related Links
Christian Charity: Good News in Hard Times -- Ken Connor
Carrots and Sticks: The Bailout's Unintended Consequences -- Ken Connor

Welcome, Anglicans!

Welcome, Anglicans!

The big news today (predicted in Phil Lawler's blog yesterday) is the Vatican's announcement that it will accept into the Church Anglican congregations who wish to reunite with Rome. The relevant provisions will be set forth in a new Apostolic Constitution, responding to the many requests from Anglican congregations throughout the world.This will provide for Anglican congregations to retain many distinctively Anglican traditions, and to be governed by a new ordinariate consisting, for the most part, of former Anglican bishops and priests who have entered the Church.Phil Lawler explains everything in his In Depth Analysis, The Pope's bold invitation to Anglicans.The return to Rome of an extraordinarily large number of Anglicans will enrich the Church in many ways, not least by providing fine vernacular texts composed in a time of deeper religious sensibilities. Most important, of course, is the incorporation of all that is worthy in Anglicanism into the true worship offered to the Father by Christ, head and members.To understand what I mean, see my latest blog reflection, Putting the Liturgy in Perspective.In other good news, Phil Lawler believes he sees a trend toward militant orthodoxy in the very highest curial appointments. See Making people squirm in On the News.But there is some strange news as well, especially the standing ovation given to a Wisconsin priest when he told his congregation of his suspension from the priesthood. See Applauding a failed priest in On the Culture.Meanwhile, a significant initiative of our own grows stronger by the day. If you haven't yet looked in on Peter Mirus' On Business blog, you'll find practical food for thought in two recent items which should be useful to just about everybody: Personality Types and the "God Experience" and This one is for the sufferers.Many examples of solidarity today!Jeff MirusPresidentTrinity Communications
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A web service from Trinity Communications. © 2009Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Welcome, Anglicans!
Dear Paula,
The big news today (predicted in Phil Lawler's blog yesterday) is the Vatican's announcement that it will accept into the Church Anglican congregations who wish to reunite with Rome. The relevant provisions will be set forth in a new Apostolic Constitution, responding to the many requests from Anglican congregations throughout the world.This will provide for Anglican congregations to retain many distinctively Anglican traditions, and to be governed by a new ordinariate consisting, for the most part, of former Anglican bishops and priests who have entered the Church.Phil Lawler explains everything in his In Depth Analysis, The Pope's bold invitation to Anglicans.The return to Rome of an extraordinarily large number of Anglicans will enrich the Church in many ways, not least by providing fine vernacular texts composed in a time of deeper religious sensibilities. Most important, of course, is the incorporation of all that is worthy in Anglicanism into the true worship offered to the Father by Christ, head and members.To understand what I mean, see my latest blog reflection, Putting the Liturgy in Perspective.In other good news, Phil Lawler believes he sees a trend toward militant orthodoxy in the very highest curial appointments. See Making people squirm in On the News.But there is some strange news as well, especially the standing ovation given to a Wisconsin priest when he told his congregation of his suspension from the priesthood. See Applauding a failed priest in On the Culture.Meanwhile, a significant initiative of our own grows stronger by the day. If you haven't yet looked in on Peter Mirus' On Business blog, you'll find practical food for thought in two recent items which should be useful to just about everybody: Personality Types and the "God Experience" and This one is for the sufferers.Many examples of solidarity today!Jeff MirusPresidentTrinity Communications
http://www.catholicculture.org/ - Email: http://us.mc839.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=contact@catholicculture.org


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Friday, October 16, 2009

Whaaaaaat?????????

Parents, Obey Your Children?

Albert Mohler

Author, Speaker, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

Literary critic Lionel Trilling once referred to "the dark and bloody crossroads where literature and politics meet." In reality, almost all literature is political in some sense. Oddly enough, the most explicitly subversive literature is often presented to the very youngest among us -- our children. Far too many parents seem not to notice.

In "The Defiant Ones," a recent essay published in the New Yorker, Daniel Zalewski argues that picture books for children now reflect a world turned upside down in terms of the relationship between parent and child. As he explains, in the newest picture books for children, the kids are solidly in charge.

In this sense, the books we read to our children reflect the cultural values of our age. Inescapably, these narratives for children reveal far more than a storyline. Indeed, the books tell us more than we may want to know about the tenor of our times.

And Zalewski explains:

Like the novel or the sitcom, the picture book records shifts in domestic life: newspaper-burrowing fathers have been replaced by eager, if bumbling, diaper-changers. Similarly, the stern disciplinarians of the past—in Robert McCloskey books, parents instruct children not to cry—have largely vanished. The parents in today's stories suffer the same diminution in authority felt by the parents reading them aloud (an hour past bedtime). The typical adult in a contemporary picture book is harried and befuddled, scurrying to fulfill a child's wishes and then hesitantly drawing the line.

Zalewski's insight into the revelatory character of books for children is truly important. As he knows, today's parents have indeed experienced a "diminution in authority" that is unprecedented in human history. Increasingly, it is children who have the upper hand in the power equation. Parents, who have been drinking deeply from the wells of contemporary secular parenting advice, have largely become passive facilitators in the lives of their children.

As Zalewski argues, today's young parents "learn that there are many things they must never do to their willful young child: spank, scold, bestow frequent praise, criticize, plead, withhold affection, take away toys, 'model' angry emotions, intimidate, bargain, nag." In other words, "nearly all forms of discipline appear morally suspect."

Modern "experts" like Alfie Kohn now go so far as to argue that rewarding children for good behavior is virtually as injurious to the child as punishing children for negative behavior. Arguing against what he calls "conditional parenting," Kohn came out against everything from the "time out" to positive reinforcement. Writing recently in The New York Times, Kohn asserted:

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