Dr. James Cone, father of Black Liberation Theology, on the meaning of the term:

“Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community … Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love.” - “A Black Theology of Liberation.”

Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Barak Obama’s pastor, on Dr. James Cone:

“I do not in any way disagree with Dr. Cone, nor do I diminish the inimitable and incomparable contributions that he has made …” - Speech to the National Press Club, April 28, 2008.

Barack Obama on his pastor, Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright:

“As imperfect as he may be, he has been like family to me. He strengthened my faith, officiated my wedding, and baptized my children. Not once in my conversations with him have I heard him talk about any ethnic group in derogatory terms, or treat whites with whom he interacted with anything but courtesy and respect. He contains within him the contradictions - the good and the bad - of the community that he has served diligently for so many years. I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community.” - Speech, March 18, 2008

I was stunned to learn this week that African brains are fundamentally different than European brains, which accounts for unalterably distinct methods of learning for black and white kids. And here I thought that we were all the same under the skin. Who knew that those 19th Century racists and eugenicists with their crude phrenological speculations were right after all? Who knew that the Supreme Court – which in Brown vs. Board of Education wrote “We conclude that in the field of public education, the doctrine of separate but equal has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal” – was wrong? Apparently, for the sake of black educational achievement it is time to re-segregate and relieve black children of any standards of educational achievement, which are objectively “European” and racist. At least, that’s what the Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright says … and after all, he has a Ph.D., so he must know. Right? A scholar of his scope and erudition couldn’t possibly be an ignorant, bigoted bastard, could he?

“As we witness the abuse of economic power, as we witness the cruelties of a capitalism that degrades man to the level of merchandise, we have also realized the perils of wealth, and we have gained a new appreciation of what Jesus meant when he warned of riches, of the man-destroying divinity of Mammon, which grips large parts of the world in a cruel stranglehold.”

-Pope Benedict XVI, “Jesus of Nazareth,” pg. 98

Hat tip: Athanasius Contra Mundum

Phillip Lawler, editor of Catholic World News, has written a new book, “The Faithful Departed: The Collapse of Boston’s Catholic Culture” (Encounter Books).

Lawler is a former editor of Crisis magazine, Catholic World Report, and The Pilot, the archdiocesan newspaper in Boston. He is also a graduate of Harvard College. A native Bostonian, Lawler has been an eyewitness to the disintegration of what was once the strongest Catholic redoubt in the United States. Here’s an excerpt:

Among … [Boston] …Catholics [in 1937], about 80% attended Mass every week, and heard the doctrine of the Church proclaimed in sermons regularly. Many attended parochial schools, where their attitudes toward the world were shaped by the Sisters of St. Joseph and other religious orders. When the Holy Name Society organized a parade, 10,000 men marched through the streets of downtown Boston. A growing number attended Catholic colleges; Boston College and Holy Cross were attracting some of the brightest young men from the families of Irish and Italian immigrants. Lay Catholics joined the Knights of Columbus, the Women’s Sodality and the Altar Guild. They met their future spouses at CYO dances and Newman Club social hours. They identified themselves readily as Catholics, and on religious matters they identified Cardinal O’Connell as their leader.

In 1948 Catholics became a majority in the lower house of the state legislature; in 1958 they captured the upper house as well. Moreover, Catholic social influence was still on the rise. When Cardinal O’Connell died in 1944, he left his successor with 323 parishes: 98 more than O’Connell had inherited when he took the reins of the archdiocese in 1907. Boston’s new Catholic leader, Archbishop (later Cardinal) Richard Cushing, quickly embarked on an even more aggressive building campaign, in Boston and out into the distant suburbs, throwing up new Catholic churches and rectories, new schools and hospitals.

The engine of Catholic growth was running smoothly. Catholic parents had large families, and sent their children to parochial schools. From there, the religious orders attracted enough young women to supply teachers for the next generation, and the seminary drew enough young men to staff the parishes. When Cardinal Cushing announced that he hoped someday to ordain 100 new priests for the Boston archdiocese in a single year– a level that no diocese in the world had ever reached– his ambition did not seem unrealistic. As the number of annual ordinations crept up through the 60s and 70s and into the 80s, it seemed to be only a matter of time before it broke into the 3-figure category. By every available measure the Church was still rapidly growing, and Catholic influence in the Boston area was still increasing.

And now?

In 2006, the Catholic proportion of the population within the geographical area covered by the archdiocese dipped below 50% for the first time in since World War I. Among those Catholics about 35% now attend Mass in any given week; the number who attend every Sunday (as required by Church law) is much lower.

The Boston archdiocese has sharply contracted, giving back the gains of the past generation. There are 298 parishes in the archdiocese today: 25 fewer than Cardinal Cushing inherited in 1944. More than 60 parishes have been closed since 2002, as part of an unprecedented “reconfiguration” designed to ease a steadily mounting deficit in the archdiocesan budget. The palatial residence built for Cardinal O’Connell has been sold, along with the adjoining grounds. Twenty parish church buildings have already been sold, and a dozen more will soon go on the market. Still the deficit looms, and unless there is some unexpected reversal of current trends more parishes will be closed within the next decade.

There are more Catholics in Greater Boston (in absolute terms) than there were a generation ago. But the affluent young Catholics of the early 21st century have not been visiting their parishes often enough, or tossing enough money in the collection baskets, to pay the heating bills on churches that their working-class ancestors sacrificed to build.

Nor are they sending their sons to the seminary, or their daughters to the convents. In 2006 just 5 men were ordained to the priesthood for the Boston archdiocese: one-twentieth of the figure that Cardinal Cushing had set as his goal. Even if every parish could pay its own bills, the archdiocese would necessarily not have enough priests to staff them. The corps of clergy is aging as well as shrinking. Elderly priests are being asked to postpone retirement; there are not enough younger priests to replace them. And this problem is quickly becoming acute; in 2004 there were 130 parishes with a pastor above the age of 70.

Since most of them are not regularly practicing their faith, or supporting their faith, it would be unrealistic to expect today’s Catholics to identify with the teachings of their faith– especially when those teachings clash with the norms of popular culture. (Younger priests have been cautioned by their seminary instructors to avoid preaching about doctrine, particularly controversial doctrine, and so perhaps many Catholics do not even know what the Church teaches.) Sure enough, Catholics divorce and remarry, obtain abortions and sterilizations, use birth control and in vitro fertilization techniques, all at rates indistinguishable from those of their non-Catholic neighbors.

In endorsing the book, Frank Keating, former Oklahoma governor and chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ National Review Board, notes that “Lawler places the blame squarely on the laps of the shepherds, the bishops who were more interested in their public image and meeting the mortgage payments, than the safety of souls.”

Certainly, Boston is and has been a bellwether for the Church in America. By studying how Catholic culture in Massachusetts collapsed, we may acquire insights that could help the cause of Catholic resistance in our future battles with aggressive secularism.

I’ve ordered the book for Friday delivery. I hope to publish my review of “The Faithful Departed” on Monday or Tueday.

Jihadi thugs have gunned down an Assyrian Orthodox priest in Baghdad. The Assyrian Church is Nestorian, and therefore not in union with Rome, as if that mattered to the cowards who shot Fr. Youssef Adel.

Robert Kennedy’s speech on the occasion of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s death, heard below, is still the greatest spontaneous political oration I have ever heard, particularly considering the circumstances. Of course, Kennedy would also be struck down by an assassin’s bullet only two months later. How different we are now, and how much the same.

Geert Wilders is the Dutch political figure behind the movie “Fitna.” If you’d like to support Wilders (morally, not financially), there’s an online petition to the Dutch government that I encourage you to sign.

Most of the following quotes were collected by Mark Shea and appeared in a recent article he wrote on Deal Hudson’s InsideCatholic site (link on sideboard). They illustrate the messianism rampant among Obama supporters, and provide further evidence that for many he is more than just their cool new black friend: he is their new secular savior.

“If Obama were in any sense mediocre, he would be forgotten by now. He is, in fact, a remarkable human being, not perfect but humanly stunning, like King was and like Mandela is. He is the change America has been trying desperately and for centuries to hide, ignore, kill. The change it must have if we are to convince the rest of the world that we care about people other than our (white) selves.” -Novelist Alice Walker

“He is not operating on the same plane as ordinary politicians. . . . [He is] the agent of transformation in an age of revolution, as a figure uniquely qualified to open the door to the 21st century.” -Gary Hart

“Barack Obama is our collective representation of our purest hopes, our highest visions and our deepest knowings . . . . He’s our product out of the all-knowing quantum field of intelligence.” -Eve Konstantine

“This is bigger than Kennedy. . . . This is the New Testament.” “I felt this thrill going up my leg. I mean, I don’t have that too often. No, seriously. It’s a dramatic event.” -Chris Matthews

“[Obama is] creative imagination which coupled with brilliance equals wisdom . . . . [He is] the man for this time.” -Toni Morrison

“Obama’s finest speeches do not excite. They do not inform. They don’t even really inspire. They elevate. . . . He is not the Word made flesh, but the triumph of word over flesh . . . . Obama is, at his best, able to call us back to our highest selves.” -Ezra Klein

“Obama has the capacity to summon heroic forces from the spiritual depths of ordinary citizens and to unleash therefrom a symphonic chorus of unique creative acts whose common purpose is to tame the soul and alleviate the great challenges facing mankind.” -Gerald Campbell

“We’re here to evolve to a higher plane . . . . He is an evolved leader . . . . . [He] has an ear for eloquence and a Tongue dipped in the Unvarnished Truth.” -Oprah Winfrey

“I would characterize the Senate race as being a race where Obama was, let’s say, blessed and highly favored. That’s not routine. There’s something else going on. I think that Obama, his election to the Senate, was divinely ordered. . . . I know that that was God’s plan.” -Bill Rush

Reading these ejaculations, I am reminded of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s appearance at the United Nations in 2006, in which he called publicly for the revelation of the Mahdi, the Twelfth Imam, the Muslim Messiah, who will usher in an age of peace and justice:

“I emphatically declare that today’s world, more than ever before, longs for just and righteous people with love for all humanity; and above all longs for the perfect righteous human being and the real savior who has been promised to all peoples and who will establish justice, peace and brotherhood on the planet. Oh, Almighty God, all men and women are your creatures and you have ordained their guidance and salvation. Bestow upon humanity that thirsts for justice, the perfect human being promised to all by you, and make us among his followers and among those who strive for his return and his cause.”

I wonder whether Ahmadinejad suspects that the Mahdi may be running for the Democratic presidential nomination in the person of B. Hussein Obama?

This past weekend, at one of those fraudulent “town hall meetings,” this time in Johnstown, PA, a woman got up and asked Barak Obama what he would do to “stop all these abortions.” His response should be illuminating to those pro-lifers, especially Catholics, who are considering voting for this man:

“Look, I got two daughters — 9 years old and 6 years old,” he said. “I am going to teach them first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby. I don’t want them punished with an STD at age 16 …”

For those of us who know Obama’s record (as opposed to his rhetoric), this response is no surprise. This is a man who while prattling on about his Christian faith has also said that he would oppose any effort to limit partial-birth abortions; a man who while an Illinois legislator in 2001-2002 voted three times to deny protection to infants who survive the abortionist’s scalpel. These votes are particularly galling when one considers that an outfit as bloodthirsty as NARAL Pro-Choice America declined to oppose such protections offered in a US Senate bill that passed Congress that same year.

So, not only are children analogous to disease, but they can be killed with impunity, even post-partum. Obama family values. Deadly to the most vulnerable among us.

Published by Geert Wilders, from Holland. Kudos to LiveLeak for carrying it, something the dhimmis at YouTube and Network Solutions refused to do.