AT VFR, Lawrence Auster writes:

Dharun Ravi, the 20 year old former Rutgers freshman, has been found guilty of most counts in the peeping Tom “hate crimes” case in which his roommate, Tyler Clementi, committed suicide by jumping off the George Washington Bridge. I opined last month that the case seemed very weak. The application of the still-new category of “hate crime” to Ravi’s behavior, under the even more questionable sub-category of “bias intimidation,” seemed so strained that I thought the jury would reject the charges. (more…)

JOHN E. writes:

Fr. Marcel Guarnizo, the Catholic priest who refused Communion to a lesbian and has been suspended from pastoral work, does well  to warn priests of what is likely to come for the faithful among them. It looks like it is taking heroic fortitude for this priest to stand firm and not violate his conscience as it relates to his simple duties as a priest. (more…)

PETER SCHIFF explains the obvious. Also, as Schiff points out, the issue is not Church vs. State, but State -- and the unconstitutional demand that citizens buy a product, i.e. national health insurance.

FR. Marcel Guarnizo, the priest who declined Communion to a Maryland woman who identified herself as a lesbian minutes before her mother’s funeral Mass has been removed from pastoral duties by the Archdiocese of Washington. In this letter to the public, posted at CNA, he explained the events that occurred on the day of Loetta Johnson’s funeral and clarified how his removal from duty was connected to the incident, in contradiction to the archdiocesan statement that he was suspended because of “intimidating behavior” toward staff.

Fr. Guarnizo’s letter is an extraordinary document, both because it is an unusual departure from normal protocol under which a priest who has been disciplined would defer to higher authorities and because of the actual events of that day. Barbara Johnson appeared in his office to introduce her lesbian lover a few minutes before the funeral Mass. Fr. Guarnizo was physically blocked by Johnson’s lover from leaving his office in order to follow Johnson and inform her of her obligation to abstain from Communion. He says he was overcome by a migraine after the funeral Mass, no doubt because of stress brought on by the evident hostility and defiance of the deceased’s daughter, whom he had no choice but to refuse publicly at the altar.

According to The Washington Post, Johnson, who contends she is both a Buddhist and a Catholic, told Fr. Guarnizo in a letter, “I will do everything in my power to see that you are removed from parish life so that you will not be permitted to harm any more families.”

The Archdiocese of Washington has made good this Buddhist lesbian’s threats and condemned the man adhering to Catholic doctrine.

Here is his letter:

I would like to begin by once again sending my condolences to the Johnson family on the death of Mrs. Loetta Johnson.

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JESSE POWELL writes:

Men have a duty to provide for and protect women; this is the basic code of chivalry. Protecting women from domestic violence committed by men certainly falls under the “protect” aspect of any civilized chivalrous code. There is an attribute of chivalry though that is important to emphasize in the context of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA): What chivalry dictates is decided upon by men. Chivalry encompasses the masculine duties towards women for the benefit of women that are defined and enforced by men. (more…)

THE Violence Against Women Act, the federal domestic violence bill, has destroyed countless homes, victimized many innocent men and employed thousands of feminist hacks on the public dollar. It’s one more example of how women and men with a pathological distrust of men and a belief in state control of the family have taken over our country. If you would like to know more about VAWA, which is currently up for reauthorization before the Senate, I recommend this recent piece by Phyllis Schlafly. I am posting in its entirety below.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein told The New York Times this week that renewed opposition to the bill “is part of a larger effort, candidly, to cut back on rights and services to women. We’ve seen it go from discussions on Roe v. Wade, to partial birth abortion, to contraception, to preventive services for women. This seems to be one more thing.” Feminists allow no challenge to their agenda without proclaiming an all-out war on women. All of the issues Feinstein refers to are features of feminist totalitarianism. Her comment is similar to a Communist bureaucrat saying that objections to his putting innocent people in jail are “one more thing” he has to cope with.

From Schlafly’s site:

The reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on February 2 on a straight party-line vote. That proves again that the feminists control the Democratic Party, and also is a refreshing indication that Republicans are no longer intimidated by feminist demands. (more…)

LAWRENCE AUSTER writes:

As I have said before, the non-discriminatory principle at the core of modern liberalism means that every traditional institution and community, every nation, every culture, every religion, must be eliminated. In line with that principle, the UN-affiliated human rights organization Gherush 92 demands that Dante’s Divine Comedy be banned from classroom teaching because it is “offensive and discriminatory” against Muslims, homosexuals, and Jews. This is not, as one critic predictably calls it, “an excess of political correctness”; it is simply consistent liberalism. Which means that if people want such attacks on our culture to end, it is liberalism itself that they must reject.

On a side point, I recently re-read The Inferno, and I don’t remember any anti-Jewish material in it. However, when it comes his offensive treatment of Muhammad, Dante is spot on. See my entry, “Muhammad in Hell.”

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AN Oregon jury’s decision last week to award nearly $3 million to a couple who sued for wrongful birth in connection with their daughter with Down Syndrome was not the first award of its kind but it was still a stunning development. How can a health clinic be blamed for the birth of a child with genetic abnormalities? Why should anyone be blamed for the birth of a child with genetic defects? Only in a world where infanticide is acceptable does such an action make sense.

The decision will mean that doctors in states where “wrongful birth” suits (yes, there is such a thing as wrongful birth) are permitted will apply even more pressure to pregnant women to have risky prenatal tests and to abort if there are abnormalities. (more…)

  LAWRENCE AUSTER writes: For those who may be wondering why there has been no activity at VFR for the last two days, the site is not functioning due to technical issues. To fix them, the Movable Type software that runs the blog needs to be upgraded. Yesterday I was working on that, but realized the job is beyond my abilities. I've asked my hosting service if they can do it for a fee. If the answer is no, I'll have to find someone else.

IN THE latest thread on Kirsty Stewart, the Royal Air Force pilot who was reassigned due to stress, Henry McCulloch, a former American fighter pilot, responds to the point made by another RAF pilot that it is no longer shameful for a pilot to be overcome by stress.

Mr. McCulloch writes:

Grounding oneself because of stress or PTSD is an admission of a failing: that a pilot cannot manage operational stress and perform his flying duties.  That is not, unless it’s actually an excuse to shirk duty, a moral failing. But neither is it something to celebrate; it is an abandonment of duty – even if a necessary one. (more…)

  JAMES P. writes: My local "ecumenical" church (which I do not attend) recently sent out a newsletter with a photo in the top left corner of two black children apparently swimming in a lake in Africa. The newsletter did not pertain to children, or Africa, in any way. It advertised a "healthy eating" seminar. Apparently they simply think that black children embody the apotheosis of Christian goodness, and therefore should decorate all their publications. The "what we believe" section of the Church website mentions "diverse" or "diversity" in almost every sentence.

IBTISAAM BENZOIN writes:

I recently read the following in the comments section of a feminist blog post, whining about how the American government is not doing much (i.e. flexible working arrangements, extened maternity leave etc.) to promote combining work and raising children: (more…)

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OHIO STATE Senator Nina Turner is the first recipient of this website’s Helen Kendrick Johnson Award. Johnson was one of many nineteenth century and early 20th century female anti-suffragists who believed women should not be given the vote or hold major office. The Helen Kendrick Johnson Award goes to a woman who proves that Mrs. Johnson was right.

Turner, a Cleveland Democrat, recently proposed a bill in the Ohio senate that would require men to see sex therapists and obtain notarized affidavits attesting to impotence in order to receive prescriptions for Viagra. The reason for the bill is not to protect the health of men or to reduce use of the potentially harmful drug. It is a spiteful response to a Ohio bill limiting abortion rights. In Turner’s view, abortion is a matter of “reproductive health” and any bill protecting the unborn is an assault on women’s health. Thus she has responded with a bill pertaining to the reproductive organs of men.

Turner told Business Week:

We want to make sure that men, vulnerable, fragile men, who are not capable of making decisions for themselves, understand all of the side effects and the implications of these types of drugs.

Turner is a living, breathing argument for the all-male franchise. The more she speaks, the more she damages the reputation of women everywhere.

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