Unless you’re Larry Hagman’s pastor, please refrain from telling the world that he is in Heaven.
But then, even JR’s confessor – if he even had one! – wouldn’t be able to make that distinction.
Sorry, but these notions of “once saved, always saved” and “God’s love is greater than your rejection of Him” is Protestant… and heretical.
We Goddards continue to pray for the soul of Andrea’s father. But to ASSUME “Pops” is in Heaven is not only absurd, but mocks the unfathomable beauty of the Beatific Vision.
Also, aborted babies – according to Catholic Church teaching, not according to Damian Goddard! – are not in Heaven. They are in Limbo.
If you’re offended by this post, please partake in a perusal of official Church teaching before you rip my head off!
That said… how’d you like that spin of alliteration, huh? “please, partake, perusal”. (okay, now “Piss-off” Damo!)

Google search “voter fraud”.  Give “electoral fraud” a shot, while you’re at it.

Now, forget about what’s happening in Sierra Leone for the time being.  As awful as it is – and it is awful! – the alleged rigging of elections in the tiny, coastal, north-western African country pales in comparison to what is being broadcast half a world away in the world’s greatest republic.

Oops.  Did I say “broadcast”?  Shucks.  What I meant was “ignored”.

Now, put on that search filter and focus in on what’s been happening in the continental United States.

What do you see?  Yup.  A story being spun on race-bait tactics from a Republican Party chairman in Maine.

Hmm.  Interesting.  But that’s not even what I’m talking about.

Forget about the fact said out-going chairman, Charlie Webster, has some serious misgivings about what went down in his own backyard a fortnight ago.  Webster may have pulled an Akian-Mourdocksin in how he explained it initially, but re-iterated this week that his intention was to “talk not about race but about perceived voting irregularities”

So, yes.  Scratch that story, too.

But you’re heating up.

What is the “voter fraud” story that is being largely ignored by the mainstream media?  It’s this story that saw the light of day a week ago.

According to NBC Chicago, in 37 precincts Mitt Romney received zero votes.

Zero.  Votes.

Shut out in the Windy City, Mitt also got no love in the City of Brotherly Love.

No love, as in, no votes.  In 59 precincts.

A commenter on the NBC Chicago website put his own topping on this turd sundae –

In critical swing states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois there are a lot of precincts in Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Chicago which reported 100% of their votes cast for Obama. These add up to many 10’s of thousands of votes for Obama and 0 for Romney. I repeat, 0 for Romney. I have read a number of articles about this and people knowlegable in Political Science and Statistics are starting to take notice of this.Statistically, even if among 10’s of thousands of voters all wanted to vote for Obama, it would not be possible to receive 100% of the vote because at least a few would make a mistake and vote incorrectly for Romney. Not to mention the fact that a least a few of those 10’s of thousands might actually disagree with Obama. These types of election returns are only seen in countries run by dictators.

Did you catch that last part?

“These types of election returns are only seen in countries run by dictators.”

One history course I’ll never forget taking while at the University of Western Ontario was “Totalitarianism in the 20th Century”.

I’ll admit, I’m not one for sooth-saying (actually, it’s against my religion… like TOTALLY against my religion) but there is a writing on the wall that is getting more legible as each day passes.

Stuff is going to hit the fan.

We must brace ourselves.

Check that.  Brace ourselves, and run at it full-steam.

But fear ye not!  We get a most splendid opportunity at etching out sainthood!

And you can take THAT to the bank.

Or, just stuff it under your mattress.

Your call.

“Man should tremble.  The world should quake.  All heaven should be deeply moved… when the Son of God appears on the altar, in the hands of a priest.”

– St. Francis of Assisi

I dunno.  It baffles the mind.

I am absolutely stunned, confused, confounded at how any Christian outside of the Catholic faith can listen to this bit of audio brilliance and remain mired in their utter willingness to partially love Christ.

Maybe, the thing is to hope homilies like this don’t see the light of a laptop screen.

Well, not on this watch.

Calling all folk outside the Catholic Church, and the fair-weather folk already within Her walls, please listen when you get a chance.

Dr. Alan Keyes needs only 2:13 of your time.

Only that much time to explain the harsh, cold fact that is this – the American Republic, if not vanquished outright, is in serious crisis.  A crisis never before seen.

I have yet to read anywhere what I’m about to say, and what I’ve believed for the better part of three years – Barack Obama will not sail quietly into the sunset come 2016.  His administration has all of the earmarks of a legitimate overthrow of everything the American people hold near and dear.

This will most certainly get worse if people refuse to embolden each other… if people fail to be courageous in the face of such tyranny.

Remember this, though – this is a great age in which to live, specifically for those who wish to prove their love for God!  Be not afraid.  Saints are being sculpted.

You know, every time I’m away from my baby I can’t wait to get back to her.  It’s early in the process, but I’m getting a good feeling that we’re starting to become one in purpose.  I will admit, I need to be more dedicated to this new-found relationship… but over time, it’s going to be so good.  I’m still working out the rough edges, but there is just SO MUCH FREAKIN’ PROMISE it’s scary!

Yup.  I love having my own website.

Okay, enough with the jokes.  Ima ’bout to get all serious on you, dawg.

This forum allows me to rant and rave, to be silly, to be brutally honest, to be brutally uncreative… and it also allows me to share with you, my three “followers”.

As you can already glean from my posts, I’m a devoted Catholic.  It’s the best thing that has ever happened to me.  But following the faith has not come without some personal cost.  And I’m not talking about losing a job.  I’m talking about losing the love of a wife.

I have a few different speeches I use at various speaking engagements.  In one, I talk about how the word “no” can be a statement of profound love.

I had to say “no” to Drea many years ago.  And it tore me up inside.

I hope you enjoy reading this, as much as I enjoyed writing it back in 2008.

It was Peyton Manning who, not-so-adroitly, coined the term “idiot kicker” during the 2003 Pro Bowl.

But Mike Vanderjagt’s got nothin’ on Vikings punter Chris Kluwe.

All Vanderjagt did was criticize QB Manning for having a laid-back demeanor in the locker room.  Kluwe?  He railroaded the institution of marriage.

Kluwe didn’t just catch it with its head down.   He stood over it… taunting it… spewing invective-laden rants at any others who would dare defend the necessity of one man, one woman.

Kluwe came off the edge, and in ferocious, reckless abandon, put the hurt on a…

Oh.  That’s right.  Kluwe’s no sneaky, lay-the-smack-down, type of guy out of the secondary.  He’s a kicker.  A pose-in-a-gay-mag, shanking-20-yard punts, kicker.  An “idiot kicker” who uses bully tactics in open letters to state delegates.

“Idiot” because he supports so-called gay marriage?  No.  “Idiot” because he’s made the cognizant choice to take part in the name-calling and shout-down behaviour that has come to mark the SS”M” movement.

And those who hold fast to the traditional and TRUE meaning of marriage aren’t standing for it anymore.

And it’s more than refreshing to see that voices are rising from the rubble of four disappointing results in Washington, Minnesota, Maryland and Maine on election night.

So, some folks took a sledgehammer to the institution of marriage on November 6th.  Big deal.  We know we’re in a for a fight.  We’ve known, all along.

And that goes for Bernard Pollard.

You want imposing forces on the grid-iron?  Bernard’s got game.   On, and off the field.

Following the disappointing result in Maryland, the Baltimore Ravens DB had this to say on the subject of marriage – “When it’s all said and done, there are a lot of guys on this team that stand firmly behind what the Bible says — that a man marries a woman and a woman marries a man.”

Of course, “a lot of guys” is code for “most guys”.   But you wouldn’t know it, the way the narrative is played out in the mainstream media.  Yes, even footballing behemoths can be made to feel that they had better stand down on marriage.

But there are some who choose to be courageous.

Before Bernard, there was Birk.  Teammate Matt, a hulking Pro-Bowl Center and Minnesota native, did not allow himself to be victimized by the vitriol.  Birk, the antithesis to Kluwe, with reasonable and straight-forward talk – sans potty-mouth – laid his stance on marriage out there for all to see.  Matt Birk made me proud to be a Catholic, once again.

And I’m left to feel, unequivocally, that Birk is proud of his Church’s stance in light of the unfortunate polling results from last Tuesday.

Just today, the Vatican announced “in an unusually strongly worded statement” that it will not give up in its fight to uphold the TRUE meaning of marriage.

The Holy See is asking for one thing from Catholics.  That one thing is this – courage.

Take heart that nothing can destroy marriage.  No politician.  No activist judge.  No vote.  No idiot kicker.

Those forces will do their best to chip away at this most vital cornerstone to every culture known to mankind.  But that’s exactly how this “game” is supposed to shake down, folks.  At it’s very heart, it’s Scriptural.  It has, to some extent, a sporting element.

At the end of the day, the most effective game-plan will win out.  We know there is nothing better for a child than for a child to be loved by his own mother and father.  That’s the gold standard, even if it means being labelled a “bigot”.  But the game that is currently underway must include the involvement of dedicated, courageous players willing to get their hands dirty.

I’m willing to assume the three-point stance on marriage.  Are you?

It’s time to get ‘smash-mouth’ on marriage.

Figuratively speaking, of course.

I’ve believed this for the better part of a year.  And I am convinced it would not have been repealed had Romney taken the White House.

Socialized health care is the bane of a free nation.  The US national debt will be AT LEAST 20 TRILLION before Obama heads into his Executive-Fiat-Third Term.

Having endured the rigours of the Canadian health care debacle, specifically in the last year leading up to my father-in-laws passing, I truly weep for a country in which the phrase “land of the free” has taken on another dark and sinister tone.

People.  Health care is not a right!  It is a commodity!  But don’t believe me.

Watch this.

Apparently, there are more than a few disgruntled Americans who are toying with the idea of moving to Canada.

CNN is calling it “election season bluster”.  I call it flat-out ignorance.

Let’s break it down, shall we?
What type of person would actually mull over a move of this magnitude?  Well, let’s just say it would be a person not too keen on moving FORWARD into the abyss.

Okay.  So we can pretty much ascertain that the moral fabric of such a person might be one who clings to the Constitution?  Is so passionately in love with the stars and stripes, and so damaged with its self destruction, that he buys into the Sting credo “if you love somebody, set them free”?  Maybe this kinda gal is also big on religious liberty, and believes wholeheartedly in God being the author of all life, huh?

Maybe, and I’m just throwing this out there… maybe this person isn’t smitten with Socialism?

Alright.  So this cat is calling up Canadian immigration to say “hey, I want in”?

Really?

Move to a country where the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is so absurd that it triumphs judicial activism at the expense of individual liberty?  Move to a country where its inhabitants laud among all else, “well, the world just LOVES Canadians” without realizing that the world LOVES taking advantage of the kid in class whose desire to be “loved” and accepted trumps his own self worth?  Move to a country whose politicians’ 21st century approach to science and research on personhood isn’t even worth ringing the bell for wholesome debate in Parliament?  Move to a country that is so far gone in its willingness to remove God from all facets of its culture, the applause rains down from the rooftops when a judge screams at a gentle woman championing life “Your God is wrong!”?

To those misguided friends who are picking up the phone to make that toll-free call, put the phone down.  Now take a few steps back.  Grab a glass of water.  Take a seat… breathe in, breathe out.

Good.

Now, stop your complaining.  Please.  For the love of God.

You live in the freest country ever known to mankind.  As the anthem states, America is the land of the free but freedom comes with bravery, not running and hiding.   Your job is to stay.  And fight.  For the battle is still ongoing.

You leave, the terrorists win.  And heck, isn’t that what the Terrorist-in-Chief wants, anyway?

Now, excuse me while I go back to funding the slaughter of innocent life in the womb through my tax dollars.