Mandela compared to Jesus Christ

Nelson Mandela convicted of plotting violent sabotage

Peter Oborne, writing in The Daily Telegraph, compares Nelson Mandela with Jesus Christ.

Back in the early eighties, it was Gandhi who was being hailed from Catholic Church pulpits as being Christ like.

I find such comparisons odious.

A holy priest is Christ like. Mother Teresa was Christ like.

Secular personalities who lead a life as far opposed to the teachings of Christ as possible, are not.

Oborne appears to suffer from journalistic amnesia as he neatly avoids any mention of why Mandela was imprisoned in the first place.

Admittedly, the sentence was a harsh one but we lock terrorists up for 30 years or more so why the hypocrisy and cant?

And terrorism is what Mandela was tried and sentenced for.

Most reports on Mandela's trial are coy as to the reasons why he was charged (with "attempted overthrow of the Government") as Wikipedia puts it.

Another media report today claims that he was jailed for his opposition to apartheid.

In fact, he was jailed for acts of violent sabotage against the state. I have not done a thorough search on the topic but my memory tells me that Nelson Mandela was part of an ANC group of activists and was apprehended whilst planting explosive charges that, had they been detonated, would have probably killed innocent men, women and children.

Of course apartheid was a terrible form of repression and, of course, the man seems to have mellowed in his later years but, he was also a signatory  when abortion issues were on the agenda (see Left Footer's post HERE).

But please let us face the fact that the African National Congress was a communist inspired and led organisation with the prime aim of inflicting terror on law abiding citizens.

This is part of Mandela's statement to the court at his trial:

Mandela - a lawyer by training - told the court earlier: "I do not deny that I planned sabotage. I did not plan it in a spirit of recklessness nor because I have any love of violence. I planned it as a result of a calm and sober assessment of the political situation that had arisen after many years of tyranny, exploitation and oppression of my people by the whites."

He was not Christ like. But he was Bin Laden like.

I hope that his later deeds and actions will prove to be his salvation.

May he rest in peace.

Caroline Farrow also has an excellent post on the subject.

Good news - an idealogical clone is on order

I am trying to keep out of the melee of comment regarding the Holy Father's resignation and as to whom will replace him but I thought that an article in today's Daily Telegraph was worth a punt.

It states that the likelihood is that an idealogical clone of Benedict will be appointed.

You may not like the terminology but most, I suspect, that read this blog, (all eight of you), will welcome that view.

You may read it HERE.

Daily Telegraph readers vote to abort abortion

The Daily Telegraph's Science correspondent, Nick Collins, (no relation) reports on the Minister for Women and Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Maria Miller's wish to reduce the 24 week abortion allowance to 20 weeks.
OK......yes, I can see that it's a step in the right direction and an important one.

                        
                                 Picture: 40 Days for Life

But, what is more telling is the Telegraph's informal poll on the various aspects of abortion that would be acceptable to the individual.

You may see the poll HERE and, indeed, add your vote if you so wish.

The bottom 'tick circle' is the one in favour of a total ban on abortion, the one we all are in favour of.

16.57% of voters wanted to maintain the 20 week status quo, 11.37% were in favour of a reduction down to 20 weeks but.....BUT........a staggering 54.18% have so far voted in favour of a complete ban.

Mr Cameron........David......Dave......please listen to the people for a change and forget all those trendy vote catchy type moves you are making and take a long, hard look at what abortion means.

What are the fruits of abortion?

Murder most foul of innocent babes, terrible psychological impacts on the women who undergo abortion and a society that loses all respect and charity for the sanctity of life.

If you have not already done so.....try to join A Forty Days' for Life prayer vigil from now until 4th November.

It is a profound and moving experience to bear witness to Jesus Christ in this way.

HERE is their website for full details.

Will Cristina Odone assume the mantle of Alice Thomas Ellis?

I do not mean that in any demeaning sense with regard to the writing styles of either Alice Thomas Ellis or Cristina Odone, it is just that it is rare that we Catholics are endowed with a journalist who is not afraid to speak out on behalf of burning sensitive issues such as homosexual and lesbian marriages, IVF, abortion and so on.

Alice Thomas Ellis has passed to her eternal reward but, in her day, her straight talking, no nonsense approach to Catholic life endeared her to the few traditional Catholics who were clinging to the mast during the
80s and 90s.



Now Cristina Odone appears to be moving in the same direction; perhaps not quite with ATE's traditional verve but, who knows what's down the road?

I admire people who stick up for the faith, in many respects becoming "dry" martyrs, being pilloried by commentators and their contemporaries and being booted off the editorial team as happened to Alice Thomas Ellis when she was dismissed from The Catholic Herald payroll after criticising the late Cardinal Hume.

Cristina Odone is now taking similar flak (coincidentally, if I remember correctly, she was the Editor of  The Catholic Herald at the time of ATE's removal).

Currently, she is being targeted by the 'hate' gang of homomaniacs and perverts who rise like scum to the surface whenever the subjects of goodness and decency are mentioned.

Here is a sample of some of the more printable comments after Cristina's blog entitled "Heterosexual marriage: the love that does not dare to speak its name":

"You keep complaining of people like yourself being seen as bigots. Perhaps if you do not want to be accused of bigotry you should avoid comparing homosexuality to lechery, polygamy, and child rape as you did in a recent poll. My God, you are vile".

and

"I can't. I just can't. What a hot mess of an article. 
Perhaps "heterosexual married couples" are so dang happy because *they're not the target of bigotry every day from you, and from people like you*? Cristina, you're a bigot. And if marriage makes people happy, WHY DO YOU WANT TO DENY NON-HETERO PEOPLE THAT HAPPINESS? It makes ZERO sense".

and

"The problem with Cristina is that she basically whips up these "all gay people think all straight people are bigots and they hate us lines", which naturally then cause straight people to be defensive. SHe creates a gay backlash all of her own - whereas if she just shut up, we would all get along fine"

There are 240 more comments that, in the main, are full of invective which indicates how the liberal lobby reacts when matters homo/lesbian/trans/and bisexual are raised in the media.

But where did Cristina Odone begin her career? We know that she was born in Kenya to an Italian father and Swiss mother and that her early life was spent on the international circuit accompanying her parents to wherever her father's role as international banker took them.

After her parents divorced she attended an independent school in Oxford and mingled with over 40 nationalities before going to Oxford to read French Literature and History.

After Oxford came The Catholic Herald post which she held for four years before going overseas to assume a role in the financial sector.
She has worked for The Spectator, The Observer and the New Statesman and is now currently writing for The Daily Telegraph and also blogs on the Telegraph site.

She has four books to her name, one being 'The Good Divorce Guide'.
I have no knowledge of the content of that book or, indeed, of Ms Odone's marital status other than she is married to a financial journalist, Edward Lucas.

The fact is, she is an avowed Catholic and she does appear to write sensibly with regard to matters of faith and morals and that type of journalist is as rare as a pork chop in a mosque.

In 2007 she withdrew from a Royal Commonwealth Society Christmas Carol concert where she was due to speak because the organisers felt that her remarks could offend those of "little or no faith".

Here are some of those remarks as extracts from her speech:

’I wonder what the Christian children at Portree Primary school in Skye would say about equal opportunities.
Their local authority had forced them to drop the word "Lord" in the grace before meals, as it was deemed offensive.

I wonder what Shabina Begum would make of equal opportunities. She was the young Muslim girl who took her school to court when it banned her from wearing the veil?

And what of Nadia Eweida? Does she think this is a country of equal opportunities? She was the woman, you may remember, who learned the hard way that a Christian may not wear a crucifix when working for BA.

H/T Archbishop Cranmer

As to her traditional Catholic outlook?

Well having followed her writings over the years I can say that she is moving in the right direction....literally.