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Archive for the ‘Morality’ Category

Faith, the Sabbath and Society

Posted in Medititions, Morality on November 18, 2012| Leave a Comment »


The Sabbath lies at the foundation of all true morality. Morality flows from principle. Let the principles of moral obligation become relaxed, and the practice of morality will not long survive the overthrow. No man can preserve his own morals, no parent can preserve the morals of his children, without the impressions of religious obligation.

 

            If you can induce a community to doubt the genuineness and authenticity of the Scriptures; to question the reality and obligations of religion; to hesitate, undeciding, whether there be any such thing as virtue or vice; whether there be an eternal state of retribution beyond the grave; or whether there exists any such being as God, you have broken down the barriers of moral virtue, and hoisted the flood gates of immorality and crime. I need not say that when a people have once done this, they can no longer exist as a tranquil and happy people. Every bond that holds society together would be ruptured; fraud and treachery would take the place of confidence between man and man; the tribunals of justice would be scenes of bribery and injustice; avarice, perjury, ambition, and revenge would walk through the land, and render it more like the dwelling of savage beasts than the tranquil abode of civilized and Christianized men.

 

            If there is an institution which opposes itself to this progress of human degeneracy, and throws a shield before the interests of moral virtue in our thoughtless and wayward world, it is the Sabbath. In the fearful struggle between virtue and vice, notwithstanding the powerful auxiliaries which wickedness finds in the bosoms of men, and in the seductions and influence of popular example, wherever the Sabbath has been suffered to live, the trembling interests of moral virtue have always been revered and  sustained. One of the principal occupations of this day is to illustrate and enforce the great principles of sound morality. Where this sacred trust is preserved inviolate, you behold a nation convened one day in seven for the purpose of acquainting themselves with the best moral principles and precepts; and it can not be otherwise than that the authority of moral virtue, under such auspices, should be acknowledged and felt.  Gardiner Springer (1785-1873),  McGuffey’s Sixth Eclectic Reader, pp. 186-188.

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Anglicans for Life

Posted in Contemporary Issues, Mission, Morality on October 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »


Anglicans for Life

A chapter of Anglicans for Life to include folks from St. Athanasius and St. Luke’s parishes is forming here at St. Alban’s. Anglicans for Life believes that, as Christians, we need to uphold the sanctity of every human life as a form of worship to God, our Creator. As believers, we need to understand all of the issues (abortion, stem cell research, end of life concerns, abstinence, and adoption) that threaten life in our culture—Anglicans for Life can be a vast resource for information on life!

God, and not man, is the creator of human life. Therefore, from conception to natural death we will protect and respect the sanctity of every human life.

Furthermore, we recognize that the unjustified taking of life is sinful, but God gives absolution to those who ask for His forgiveness.

Furthermore, we recognize that the unjustified taking of life is sinful, but God gives absolution to those who ask for His forgiveness.

A brief organizing meeting will be held after the 11 am Mass on Sunday, November 25th.

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Voting and All That

Posted in Contemporary Issues, Morality on October 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »


I appreciate the fact that many of you have asked me to distribute various Chrisian voter guides before this all-important presidential election. I have declined to do so for the simple reason that we should know who we are as tradtional Anglicans.  As a parish that arose as a result of the Affirmation of St. Louis, St. Alban’s and this priest adhere, in particular, to certain “non-negotiables”, in particular, two key principles of the Christian faith:
Sanctity of Human Life

Every human being, from the time of his conception, is a creature and child of God, made in His image and likeness, an infinitely precious soul; and that the unjustifiable or inexcusable taking of life is always sinful.

Family Life

The God-given sacramental bond in marriage between one man and one woman is God’s loving provision for procreation and family life, and sexual activity is to be practised only within the bonds of Holy Matrimony.

In all that we do, not just exercise of the franchise, we are bound to maintain these standards of traditional Christianity. To be sure, “[w]e recognize that man, as inheritor of original sin, is ‘very far gone from original righteousness,’and as a rebel against God’s authority is liable to His righteous judgement.”  Thus, we are reminded of our place in dealing with other siners in charity given the beam in our own eyes.  Never theless, we believe, in charity, “it is the duty of the Church and her members to bear witness to Christian Morality, to follow it in their lives, and to reject the false standards of the world.”

So, as we prepare to vote, there is a yardstick-a rule-wherewith we can make truly informed choices–choices informed by the faith once-delivered to the saints.  That’s all that need be said.

Now let us pray fervently:

For Our Country.

ALMIGHTY God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage; We humbly beseech thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of thy favour and glad to do thy will. Bless our land with honourable industry, sound learning, and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord, and confusion; from pride and arrogancy, and from every evil way. Defend our liberties, and fashion into one united people the multitudes brought hither out of many kindreds and tongues. Endue with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in thy Name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that, through obedience to thy law, we may show forth thy praise among the nations of the earth. In the time of prosperity, fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble, suffer not our trust in thee to fail; all which we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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A Victory for Sanity

Posted in Morality on February 1, 2012| Leave a Comment »


Victory for Freedom of Conscience in Ward v. Polite
January 27, 2012
PRINCETON, NJ (January 27, 2012)—The National Association of Scholars applauded the ruling today by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of Julea Ward and in defense of freedom of conscience.

Julea Ward was a student in the counseling program at Eastern Michigan University who was expelled from the program after she asked permission to refer a gay client to another counselor. Ms. Ward, citing her Christian beliefs, was willing to counsel the client but not to “affirm” his homosexual behavior.

The National Association of Scholars filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case just over a year ago, which states, “In a society where people—both counselors and clients—hold very different moral and religious views, it makes perfect sense that referrals would be a legitimate and valuable option for counselors who foresee a potential conflict with the client‘s goals.”

Today’s court decision corresponds with this concept. “Tolerance is a two-way street. Otherwise, the rule mandates orthodoxy, not anti-discrimination,” the opinion states. “A reasonable jury could find that the university dismissed Ward from its counseling program because of her faith-based speech, not because of any legitimate pedagogical objective. A university cannot compel a student to alter or violate her belief systems based on a phantom policy as the price for obtaining a degree.”

Peter Wood, president of the National Association of Scholars, said “The Sixth Circuit’s ruling is an important victory for freedom of speech and freedom of conscience in American higher education. Increasingly, students who dissent from the social views that prevail on liberal campuses are marginalized and in some cases stripped of their opportunity to pursue their education. The Court recognized that this is what happened to Julea Ward and it decided the case in a manner that should serve as a warning to other universities that discriminate against individuals under the pretext of upholding ‘non-discrimination’ principles.”

NAS advocates for excellence in higher education by encouraging commitment to high intellectual standards, individual merit, institutional integrity, good governance, and sound public policy. To learn more about NAS, visit http://www.nas.org.

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Co-Ed Dorms and Behavior

Posted in Contemporary Issues, Morality on August 9, 2011| Leave a Comment »


For you parents with children thinking about colleges (and grand-parents who wish to offer sound advice), Maggie Gallagher, Chairman of the National Organization for Marriage offers a good Christian analysis of the state of university housing.

The genesis of her story is the action by John Garvey, the new President of Catholic University, to return that to single sex dorms. She reports that, “Many feathers were ruffled. It is a measure of the unisex madness in which we have become enmeshed that a Catholic university’s decision to house unmarried young men and women in separate dorms could be described as ‘controversial.’”

Garvey announced his decision in a Wall Street Journal op ed. He cited his own experience as the father of five kids, and a handful of social science studies to affirm the obvious: When adolescents freed from the constraints of family life, are tossed into the same dorms, they are more likely to do dumb things. Garvey wrrote that, “Christopher Kaczor at Loyola Marymount points to a surprising number of studies showing that students in co-ed dorms (41.5%) report weekly binge drinking more than twice as often as students in single-sex housing (17.6%). Similarly, students in co-ed housing are more likely (55.7%) than students in single-sex dorms (36.8%) to have had a sexual partner in the last year–and more than twice as likely to have had three or more.”

Gallagher asks the intuitive question, “Do we really need social science data to demonstrate this? Apparently so.”

She cites a well-designed 2009 peer-reviewed study by Brian Willoughby and Jason Carroll, “The Impact of Living in Co-ed Resident Halls on Risk-taking Among College Students” which confirms Garvey’s sense of the situation. The study, published in the Journal of American College Health, relied on data from Project R.E.A.D.Y., a multi-site research project dedicated to investigating various aspects of emerging adulthood development.

The sample consisted of 510 unmarried undergraduate students recruited during the 2004–2005 academic year from five colleges– a small, private liberal arts college, a medium-sized, religious university, and three large public universities.  No surprise in the results:

Students living in co-ed housing were more likely than students living in gender-specific housing to binge drink , consume alcohol, have more permissive sexual attitudes, and have more recent sexual partners. On-campus housing environments impact college student risk behaviors.

You can read the full article at the blog of the Ruth Institute-a fearless defender of traditional marriage and family. http://www.ruthblog.org/

I would echo the author’s plaudits to Garvey for courage, as well as common sense. Catholic University apparently is the very first university in the history of United States to return to single sex dorms, after abandoning them to go coed for no particular reason in 1982.

Garvey wrote, “I believe that intellect and virtue are connected. They influence one another. Some say the intellect is primary. If we know what is good, we will pursue it. . . . The goals we set for ourselves are brought into focus by our moral vision.” Amen!

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