Rough morning. My stomach hurts a little and I'm coughing a bit. I hope it doesn't develop into anything that really hurts. We'll see.
This made me feel better: "The Vatican has upheld a 1996 excommunication decree issued by Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz in relation to Call to Action and 11 other organizations." Years ago, I helped a counter-organization, Call to Holiness, get 501(c)(3) status with the IRS. I haven't heard much about them, but it appears they're still around. I remember they had asked a lawyer at GM to do it, but he had no idea how, so they called me and asked if I could spare the pro bono time. I joked, "Sure, after all, what would a GM lawyer know about non-profit entities." Ten years and mounds of GM debt later, that joke doesn't seem so funny.
What's in the Colorado water? The founding pastor of a second Colorado church has resigned over gay sex allegations. Is Dobson far behind (so to speak)?
Joseph Epstein praises Vocabula Review, an online magazine edited by Robert Hartwell Fiske, at the Wall Street Journal. Writes Epstein:
Behind Mr. Fiske's continuing project is the idea that without careful language there can be no clear thought. Politicians, advertising copywriters, swindlers of differing styles and ambitions know this well and put it to their own devious uses. The rest of us too easily tend to forget this central truth. All words and phrases, to fall back on what I hope isn't a plebeian sentiment, are guilty until proved innocent.
Bad language is viral; it's in the atmosphere, and we all pick it up. Mr. Fiske diagnoses it and tells us, in the Vocabula Review and in his books, how to get well. His aim is a higher standard of linguistic health through the clear and precise use of language. A subscription to Vocabula Review is the intellectual equivalent of a monthly flu shot.
I agree with Epstein. Aside: I've published two pieces with VR. It feels good to bask in the (very distant) glow of Epstein's praise.
My Christmas gift to you: A link with all sorts of free templates and documents, courtesy of Microsoft. Pretty neat.
I wish I could've seen the abortion provider's look when he heard:
The Diocese of Tulsa has bought land near a reproductive center. . . . Two months ago, the diocese bought just under a half-acre empty lot across the street from the Reproductive Services of Tulsa, 6136 E. 32nd Place. "This gives us a place where we can hold prayer, and support of life, . . . and a place to offer support for people that might otherwise choose abortion," said Tim Sullivan, executive director of Catholic Charities.
