Deep revision and adjustment to Novels

I am carrying out a deep revision and adjustment to IN THIS VALE OF TEARS and THE CASTLE OF HEAVENLY BLISS (Books Two & Three of the Winterbine series) to bring them into line with the first book of the Winterbine series, TIMES OF DISTRESS, which will be finished in April 2020. The revised and adjusted texts for IN THIS VALE OF TEARS and THE CASTLE OF HEAVENLY BLISS will be ready in May 2020 and June 2020 respectively.

Myths about Clerical Abuse

Top 10 Myths About Clergy Abuse in the Catholic Church

Psychology Today, Aug 01, 2019

Sexual abuse perpetrated by Roman Catholic priests has been headline news for years. But even with so much press attention, there are many commonly accepted myths about this issue. Remarkably, evidence-based research doesn’t always receive attention, while sensationalized stories that create a particular—but sometimes false—narrative do. This ultimately misinforms and harms the public—not to mention efforts to keep kids safe in and outside of the Church.

As we approach the year anniversary of the recent uptick in media attention due to the release of the Pennsylvania grand jury report (as well as the now-former Cardinal McCarrick abuse allegations), let’s review the top 10 myths about clerical abuse in the Catholic Church. 

Myth 1: Sexual abuse is more common among Catholic priests than other groups of men.  

About 4 percent of Catholic clerics had credible or substantiated accusations of child sexual abuse of minors (both prepubescent children and postpubescent teens) during the last half of the 20th century (John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 2004, 2011). Research data, although from limited small scale studies, finds the prevalence of clerical abuse among non-Catholic religious communities consistent with the Catholics. If you review insurance claims against Church communities for sexual victimization perpetrated by their clerics, you’ll find that that there is no difference between Catholic and non-Catholic groups (Zech, 2011).

Read on…

The state of the Church Today

John-Henry Westen is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the first life-and-family issues news service operating on the Internet: LifeSiteNews.com. A veteran journalist and speaker, John-Henry is the author of thousands of articles on life, family, faith and culture; his LifeSiteNews.com articles have appeared in hundreds of publications worldwide.

Founded in 1997 and based in Front Royal, VA, LifeSiteNews.com is the largest pro-life, pro-family news website on the Internet with an average of 5 million page views per month.

John-Henry Western recently posted a video on the state of the Catholic Church. The video provides a many quotations (many in the actual circumstances) from Pope Francis that will appall and shock orthodox Catholics, and will be the joy of the destroyers who see him fulfilling the promise of Vatican II. See the video HERE.

My Status – Where I am up to

FOR THE TIME BEING, I am consumed with reading and research for the final third of my novel, TIMES OF DISTRESS, the first book in my Winterbine Series. I have little time for other writing which explains why most of my posts on my two websites are links (sometimes with an introduction) to essays or comments I feel are of particular interest.

I will add to my important section on Cardinal Pell as soon as I have time.

I have recently opened a Facebook page for The Edmund Burke Society – Australia. I would really appreciate it if you would give it a like. The more likes I have, the more coverage the page gets. Many thanks.

Roger Scruton dies

Roger Scruton, perhaps the greatest philosopher of the 20th century, has died. He has left a vast trove of philosophical writing that requires inexhaustible study. It is significant that the left did all it could to destroy him. His FOOLS, FRAUDS AND FIREBRANDS: THINKERS OF THE NEW LEFT (2005) is among his most powerful books. The Edmund Burke Society strongly recommends this book to gain an understanding of left’s motivations over the last 60 years.

EPPC Mourns Death of Sir Roger Scruton

January 13, 2020

The Ethics and Public Policy Center mourns the death of EPPC Senior Fellow Sir Roger Scruton, who died on Sunday, January 12, at age 75.

“We grieve the loss of our brilliant colleague Roger Scruton. We are deeply grateful that Roger made EPPC his American think-tank home for the past seven years. He has left a remarkably robust intellectual legacy,” said EPPC President Ed Whelan.

The author of more than 50 books on topics such as art, music, architecture, conservation, philosophy, and religion, Sir Roger was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2016 for his “services to philosophy, teaching and public education.” In 2019, he earned recognition from the governments of Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic for his courageous anti-communist efforts and his legacy of moral and intellectual leadership.

Read on…

Roger Scruton's final diary of 2019

ROGER SCRUTON: MY 2019

Despite everything, I have so much to be grateful for

Roger Scruton, Spectator UK

January

My 2018 ended with a hate storm, in response to my appointment as chair of the government’s Building Better, Building Beautiful Commission. But the new year brings a lull, and I hope and pray that the Grand Inquisitor enthroned by social media will find another target.

February

The 27th is my 75th birthday, and as it happens the last Wednesday meet of foxhounds for the season. We host the meet and celebrate with our neighbours. Despite my wife Sophie’s protests, I maintain my resolve to give up hunting at 75, counting again the broken bones, sprains and muscular disorders acquired over 35 years in the saddle, or, rather, out of it. On my last hunt, I am glad to say, I stay in the saddle all day.

Read on…

Marxists behind death of Gay protester?

MSM and SJW’s murder conservative activist

By David Hiscox -January 14, 2020, XYZ

A young man named Wilson Gavin who led a protest against a so-called “drag queen story hour” in Brisbane a couple of days ago is believed to have killed himself. He was a member of the University of Queensland Liberal National Club, a Catholic, and a homosexual. He had been a vocal critic of fake marriage at the height of the debate a couple of year ago.

Read on…

Victim of unmerciful leftist attack

Drag queen protester Wilson Gavin’s suicide exposes horrors of online abuse

The suicide of a young conservative activist just hours after he ­attracted a storm of online abuse for leading a protest against a drag queen reading event for children has ­supercharged debate over the use of social media as a weapon to ­attack political opponents.

Wilson Gavin, 21, was openly gay but vehemently committed to conservative causes such as the ­monarchy and opposition to same-sex marriage.

His suicide followed a barrage of social media abuse over his role in the protest at a ­Brisbane council library on Sunday.

Read on...

The National Book Foundation Defines Diversity Down

Kevin Mims, Quillette, 7 January 2020

Last month the Huffington Post published an essay by Claire Fallon entitled “Was this Decade the Beginning of the End of the Great White Male Writer?” Fallon celebrated the notion that white men are losing their prominence in contemporary American literature and that the best books being published in America today are being written by a wider variety of authors than ever before:

“What was once insular is now unifying,” National Book Foundation director Lisa Lucas told the crowd at the 2019 National Book Awards Gala, where the fiction, nonfiction, and poetry honors all went to writers of color. “What was once exclusive is now inclusive.”

Lucas took over the foundation in 2016, at a time when the high-profile awards had a somewhat checkered record with representation. Though historically the honorees had skewed heavily white and male, that began to change around 2010. (However, there had been some other recent embarrassments, like 2014 host Daniel Handler’s racist jokes following author Jacqueline Woodson’s win for “Brown Girl Dreaming.”) Lucas, the first woman and person of color to helm the foundation, made representation and inclusivity a focus of her messaging. When looking back at the past decade, she told HuffPost in an interview, a multipronged effort to build a more inclusive literary scene has indeed paid dividends.

Read on…