The End of White Flight

For the First Time in Decades, Cities' Black Populations Lose Ground,
Stirring Clashes Over Class, Culture and Even Ice Cream

By CONOR DOUGHERTY
July 19, 2008; Page A1

Decades of white flight transformed America's cities. That era is drawing to a close.

In Washington, a historically black church is trying to attract white members to survive. Atlanta's next mayoral race is expected to feature the first competitive white candidate since the 1980s. San Francisco has lost so many African-Americans that Mayor Gavin Newsom created an "African-American Out-Migration Task Force and Advisory Committee" to help retain black residents.

"The city is experiencing growth, yet we're losing African-American families disproportionately," Mr. Newsom says. When that happens, "we lose part of our soul."

From the Collection of the Ali family

Ben's Chili Bowl in Washington has become a melting pot as the area's racial mix changes.

For much of the 20th century, the proportion of whites shrank in most U.S. cities. In recent years the decline has slowed considerably -- and in some significant cases has reversed. Between 2000 and 2006, eight of the 50 largest cities, including Boston, Seattle and San Francisco, saw the proportion of whites increase, according to Census figures. The previous decade, only three cities saw increases.

The changing racial mix is stirring up quarrels over class and culture. Beloved institutions in traditionally black communities -- minority-owned restaurants, book stores -- are losing the customers who supported them for decades. As neighborhoods grow more multicultural, conflicts over home prices, taxes and education are opening a new chapter in American race relations.

Part of the demographic shift is simple math: So many whites had abandoned cities over the past half-century, there weren't as many left to lose. Whites make up 66% of the general U.S. population, but only about 40% of large cities. Sooner or later, the pendulum was bound to swing back, and that appears to be starting.

From the Collection of the Ali family

Ben's exterior in 1958

The Census data "suggests that white flight from large cities may have bottomed out in the 1990s," says William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank.

For instance, while most of the 50 largest cities continue to see declines in the share of whites, it is at much-reduced rates. In Los Angeles the share of the white population declined only about a half a percentage point between 2000 and 2006, compared to a 7.5-point decline the previous decade. Cities including New York, Fort Worth and Chicago show a similar pattern.

'Natural Decrease'

Demographic readjustments can take decades to play out. But if current trends continue, Washington and Atlanta (both with black majorities) will in the next decade see African-Americans fall below 50% for the first time in about a half-century.

Meantime, in San Francisco, African-American deaths now outnumber births. Once a "natural decrease" such as this begins, it's tough for the population to bounce back, since there are fewer residents left to produce the next generation. "The cycle tends to be self-perpetuating," says Kenneth M. Johnson, senior demographer at the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire.

Ramin Rahimian/WpN for The Wall Street Journal

San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, from the book "Harlem of the West" by Elizabeth Pepin & Lewis Watts, Chronicle Books

San Francisco's Fillmore (top) is losing black businesses; the same corner in the mid-1940s (bottom).

There are myriad factors driving the change. In recent years, minority middle-class families, particularly African-Americans, have been moving to the suburbs in greater numbers. At the same time, Hispanic immigrants (who poured into cities from the 1970s through the 1990s) are now increasingly bypassing cities for suburbs and rural areas, seeking jobs on farms and in meat-packing plants.

Cities have spent a decade tidying up parks and converting decaying factories into retail and living space. That has attracted young professionals and empty-nesters, many of them white.

The shift has put the future at odds with the past. New York City's borough of Brooklyn has seen its proportion of whites grow to 36.1% in 2006 from 35.9% in 2000 -- the first increase in white share in about a century.

Hoarding Computers

While the root of neighborhood conflicts is often money or class differences between white-collar and blue-collar workers, it often unfolds along racial lines. About two years ago Public School 84, in a largely Hispanic section of Brooklyn, meetings of the Parent Teacher Association started drawing a more professional, wealthier and whiter group of parents.

Soon, disagreements spilled into the open. Arguments concerned everything from how PTA money was spent, to accusations that some white parents were hoarding computers for their kids.

Even ice cream became a point of contention: In the past year, a group of mostly white parents took issue with a school tradition of selling ice cream to raise money. They felt the school shouldn't be serving sugary foods to kids, but the break with tradition angered many minority parents who felt the sales were an important source of money and that ice cream is a harmless treat.

"It was a gigantic fight," says Brooke Parker, who is white and whose daughter attended the school last year. "If the school is saying 'It's OK to give out ice cream' while at the same time they're holding workshops on how to deal with your kid's Type 2 diabetes, maybe we should rethink the message we're sending."

Relations got testy enough that about 20 kids, most of whom were white, transferred to private schools or other public schools. "I don't think the battleground against gentrification should take place in the schools," says Ms. Parker, who withdrew her own daughter from P.S. 84 as tensions built. "It seemed nothing could get accomplished," she said.

Cries of 'Segregation'

Patrice Gilbert for The Wall Street Journal

The Rev. John Blanchard (right) at his Washington church, which plans to woo whites.

A few months later, a small group of families, most of them white, proposed establishing a new public school, to be located inside the existing P.S. 84. Hundreds of minority parents reacted by putting out a press release calling it de facto segregation. The proposal is "clearly discriminatory," the release said. "Children will suffer the effects of negative stigma as a result of this segregation which will send our City back 120 years!"

"I honestly felt like they didn't want to mix our children with their children," says Virginia Reyes, vice president of the PTA at P.S. 84 who has two foster children at the school. "It upset me a lot."

A spokeswoman for the New York City Department of Education says, "We obviously would not and could not open segregated schools." The department says the new school didn't get the go-ahead because it didn't have broad enough community support.

Backers of the new school couldn't be reached.

Elsewhere in Brooklyn, in a majority African-American section of the borough, Councilwoman Letitia James says a handful of predominantly white parents last year asked her if some of their local tax money could be steered to schools in a nearby neighborhood. The parents wanted their kids in schools with a more diverse racial mix, Ms. James says, rather than the majority-black schools in her district.

The parents felt "tax dollars should follow the children, and not the school," Ms. James says. She denied their request.

There's a century's worth of history behind the ebb and flow of whites and minorities in urban America. Rural blacks began flocking to cities more than a century ago, lured by factory jobs. After World War II, whites headed for the suburbs as the great postwar building boom got rolling, while African-American families stayed in the cities, partly because they were often denied access to home loans that whites could get. In the 1970s Hispanic immigrants surged into cities, chasing service jobs and further diluting the share of whites. By the 1980s, as cities hemorrhaged manufacturing jobs, blacks and whites both left -- but whites at a higher rate.

Cities Get a Makeover

Today, cities are refashioning themselves as trendy centers devoid of suburban ills like strip malls and long commutes. In Atlanta, which has among the longest commute times of any U.S. city, the white population rose by 26,000 between 2000 and 2006, while the black population decreased by 8,900. Overall the white proportion has increased to 35% in 2006 from 31% in 2000.

In other cities, whites are still leaving, but more blacks are moving out. Boston lost about 6,000 black residents between 2000 and 2006, but only about 3,000 whites. In 2006, whites accounted for 50.2% of the city's population, up from 49.5% in 2000. That's the first increase in roughly a century.

Tracking population shifts is an inexact science. Changes in how Census data are tallied makes for imprecise comparisons across decades. Hispanics, for instance, were mostly lumped in with whites until 1980, potentially overstating the white population in earlier decades. Also, losses of African-Americans from cities are often disproportionate to other minorities because unlike, say, Hispanics or Asians, the inflow of black immigrants into the U.S. isn't big enough to offset the loss of African-Americans to the suburbs.

Washington -- where African-Americans have been in the majority for a half-century -- has lost about 80,000 black residents between 1990 and 2006. Whites had been leaving, too, but recently they've started coming back. Between 2000 and 2006, Washington gained 24,000 whites and lost 21,000 blacks. Whites are now 32% of the population, up from 28% in 2000.

Churches Take a Hit

This is a problem for Washington's African-American churches. The past few years, numerous black churches have relocated to suburban Prince George's County, Md., to follow their parishioners. Later this year, Metropolitan Baptist Church (founded by freed slaves during the Lincoln administration) plans to leave town as well.

Some of the remaining black churches are now courting white members. On a recent Sunday, the Rev. John Blanchard, the 64-year-old pastor at Ebenezer United Methodist Church, preached to a thin crowd; several pews were empty. About half his parishioners now live in the suburbs and drive into the city for services. High gasoline prices aren't helping attendance.

So Mr. Blanchard says he's planning to add a white intern to preach with him, in hopes of filling more pews. "You've got to love the one you're with," he says, "but you also need to adjust to the environment you're in."

While his church flounders, the predominantly white Capitol Hill United Methodist Church just down the street is flourishing. There the average attendance on Sundays has doubled to about 120 people the past five years. "Demographics are in our favor. We're attracting the folks that are moving in," says the Rev. Ginger Gaines-Cirelli, 38, who headed the church for five years before recently leaving for a position elsewhere.

In San Francisco, the African-American population has fallen by a third, or about 30,000 people, since 1990, largely due to surging housing costs and redevelopment that destroyed some public housing. Mayor Newsom's African-American Out-Migration Task Force, set up last year, has a two-pronged strategy: keep African-Americans from leaving, and promote affordable housing and cultural institutions like a jazz center to try to lure blacks back. "The greatness of our city and region is in its diversity," Mayor Newsom says.

So far, his efforts have focused on residents of public housing, about half of whom are black. The city is trying to prevent evictions by building new community centers where residents can get job training and help with the rent. The city is also giving residents displaced by redevelopment, many of whom are black, an inside track on affordable-housing units.

From Poor to Poorer

As middle-class African-Americans have left San Francisco, the remaining black population has gone from poor to poorer. In 1990, half of the city's African-American population was very low-income; by 2005, that number swelled to about two-thirds. The number of black-owned businesses fell 25% between 1997 and 2002.

As blacks migrated to San Francisco's suburbs, so too have many social activities centered on the community. The San Francisco Chapter of the National Black MBA Association has started hosting many of its events across the bay in Oakland.

The Western Addition, a historically black neighborhood in San Francisco once home to many jazz clubs, has lost much of that character. Powell's Place, an iconic soul-food restaurant that had been located in or around the neighborhood since the 1970s, has moved to Bayview-Hunters Point. Charles Spencer, who owns a barbershop catering to black men, says he has lost many of his customers and is trying to diversify. His Web site has a picture of a white client to go with three black faces.

'An Act of Faith'

The city has celebrated its traditional black culture by designating a stretch of Fillmore Street the "Fillmore Jazz Preservation District," yet the businesses that defined the era are now gone or dying. Raye Richardson, owner of Marcus Book Stores -- its motto is "Books by and about black people everywhere" -- has been in the Fillmore district since 1946. She remembers the clubs, the black tailor shops and the many black residents who supported her shop. Today, Ms. Richardson says her store is losing money; much of her business comes from mail-order traffic.

"San Francisco has so few blacks now, that it's just an act of faith to stay open," says Ms. Richardson, 88.

Sherri Young, executive director at the African-American Shakespeare Company in San Francisco, is one of the few blacks at her theater company who still lives in San Francisco. "I'm a single woman in my late 30s," Ms. Young says. "Culturally, it's difficult."

Recently, she says, her production of "The Comedy of Errors" drew a mostly white audience. It's the first time that's happened since she founded the company 14 years ago.

Write to Conor Dougherty at conor.dougherty@wsj.com

The Modern Atheists….

The Modern Atheists….

(Are not terribly different than the old ones. The difference is how believers answer them.)

There is a new wave of Atheists that have hit the scene. Well not so new anymore but they think their ideas are new, which they are not. In our popular culture they are seen as ‘cutting edge’ and ‘deep’ but an analysis of their beliefs, attitudes and actions shows that they are actually more like a bunch of petulant adolescents that have yet to get smacked in the mouth for talking back to their parents. They are of course products of our time where very weak thinkers play to ignorant people and think themselves clever as they preach to their own choir. This is of course a symptom of what Dennis Prager calls the ‘Age of Stupidity’. This is an age where foolishness passes itself off as wisdom and fools pass themselves off as prophets.

James White, someone whom I rarely find myself in agreement with made an interesting statement that Richard Dawkins is not a deep thinker. He of course is correct (which pains me to say). Dawkins is not a deep thinker. When ever he is pressed on his views he throws a temper tantrum or makes some sort of flippancy. He is a rather weak thinker. At least someone like James White, whom I have very little respect for, makes his points and defends them rationally. Dawkins on the other hand demonstrates that in our modern world what passes for deep thought is generally a flippant retort that gets a few giggles from pimply faced college freshmen who think it’s clever to annoy their parents at the dinner table by regurgitating what they hear from Dawkins, Hitchens or any of the other cookie cutter atheist cranks. When White posted that comment on Youtube atheists were quick to show just how silly and classless they tend to be. There were comments about ‘bible-thumping idiots’ and that 'There are no Christian intellectuals' other high brow commentary. Sadly, that is what one should expect in a discussion with atheists.

Here is a humorous clip from Dawkins:

For the record I am not a Creationist but the thought of this man being passed off as an intellectual giant is rather funny.

It was cute to see that Dawkins made statements about ‘Cultural Christianity’ and his delight in signing Christmas Carols. When I read this I thought ‘If I thought Christianity were a crock I would think Christmas Carols a waste of time.’ But then I thought more (which is something atheists should try once in a while). I thought about the fact that Mr. Dawkins simply doesn’t understand the world around him. He doesn’t understand that a Civilization is a fragile thing. He goes about swinging his atheistic club as if it will have no ramifications for the Civilization he inhabits. You see, even when I was an agnostic I understood the Christianity, in particular Catholicism, made Western Civilization what it is. I defended the Church before I believed in it because I knew that without Christianity the West would not be the West. As Mr. Dawkins gets his way and the West loses its soul we will stop being who we are. Christmas Carols will simply be stupid reminders of our past. We will look to our future. A future that, thanks to secularism, is far more bleak than it ever has been. Women murder their children in the womb and think it an advancement in society. People embrace materialism because it is all that really matters to them. Westerners no longer care about making the future what it needs to be. We are more concerned with our 401ks, cheap crap that we go into debt for and making sure that we tax other people to take care of us in our old age since we are killing our children in the womb. Wow, what a brave new world. We have no purpose in the West anymore. We are a soulless entity treading water. I remember reading about the Reconquista of Spain and how the Christians had been bushed up into the mountains and over a 700 year period fought inch by inch to re-claim what was theirs. You don’t do that for materialism. You do that because you have a sense of purpose. You are willing to sacrifice for that purpose. Because of people like Dawkins or the eminently more interesting HG Wells we no longer have that purpose. What Dawkins does not see is if he were to ever truly get his way Christmas could simply be done away with as a foolish reminder of our previous 'superstition'. Yet even he is fond of what that sliver of culture that Christianity produced. Again, not very deep thought. He simply relies on emotion and anger. Yet humorously his blog has a subtitle of ‘A Clear Thinking Oasis’ I do not blame Dawkins though. His ability to use reason has been damaged by his atheism. Atheism destroys reason. It pretty much destroys thought. GK Chesterton pointed this out in ‘Orthodoxy’ (a book I am sure none of the modern atheists have bothered to read):

In so far as religion is gone, reason is going. For they are both of the same primary and authoritative kind. They are both methods of proof which cannot themselves be proved. And in the act of destroying the idea of Divine authority we have largely destroyed the idea of that human authority by which we do a long-division sum. With a long and sustained tug we have attempted to pull the mitre off pontifical man; and his head has come off with it.

Christopher Hitchens whom, unlike most of his co-religionists, is somewhat of a deep thinker is another example of the modern atheist. Unlike many others though he is a very bright man. Unfortunately, he is constantly wrong. This is a man who is a (former?) Trotskyite. He got the Cold War wrong. He then buddied up with the Neoconservative movement. He backed the Bush Administrations war on Iraq. These are big things to have gotten wrong! Unfortunately, despite is quick wit, brilliant insights into literature, and obvious intelligence he is completely irrational and violently abusive toward anyone or anything having to do with religion. This is a man that from what I can tell has never written a book attacking Trotsky and the furious carnage Trotsky and his fellow Bolsheviks wrought upon the people of the former Soviet Union, but has managed to write a book attacking Mother Theresa.

Even if I were an atheist I would take a step back and see that I would not want to buy what Christopher Hitchens is selling. He is literally out of his mind when it comes to religion. Take a look at this exchange from ‘An evening with Christopher Hitchens’ (copied from Takimag)

FATHER RUTLER: I have met saints. You cannot explain the existence of saints without God. I was nine years chaplain with Mother Teresa [inaudible]. You have called her a whore, a demagogue. She’s in heaven that you don’t believe in, but she’s praying for you. If you do not believe in heaven, that’s why you drink.

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: Excuse me?

FATHER RUTLER: That’s why you drink. God has offered us happiness, all of us. And you will either die a Catholic or a madman, and I’ll tell you the difference.

And secondly, I’m an officer with this club. And this conversation has been beneath the dignity of this club.

UNIDENTIFIED AUDIENCE MEMBER: No it hasn’t been.

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: Well, it is now.

DAVID HOROWITZ: Okay. I–

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: It is now.

FATHER RUTLER: And I’d just say that…

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: Fine host you turned out to be.

FATHER RUTLER: …this club, we’ve had very open discussion. But we’ve never heard such vulgarity and bigotry.

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: Till now.

FATHER RUTLER: And I am, I don’t want to see this in this club again. And I think I represent the officers of this noble…

DAVID HOROWITZ: All right.

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: Your claim to know what a [saint] is or what heaven is is as absurd as your [inaudible] arrogance, your unkindness and your lack of hospitality.

DAVID HOROWITZ: See? Everybody –

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: You should be ashamed.

FATHER RUTLER: [inaudible]

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS: And you are supposed to represent a church of charity and kindness?

DAVID HOROWITZ: I said this evening was going to be interesting and unpredictable.

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Especially [inaudible].

DAVID HOROWITZ: And anyway, thank you all for coming. And to all a good night. (”An Evening with Christopher Hitchens”)

It was after the above exchange that the real fireworks started, according to witnesses. This blog has obtained a written account of the incident by one eyewitness, which states the following:

“At the end of the event as he staggered, sweating and red faced, out of the room, he [Hitchens] advanced on Father Rutler in a threatening and physical manner, screaming that this beloved pastor and brilliant scholar whom he had never met was ‘a child molester and a lazy layabout who never did a day’s work in his life’. His behavior was so frightening that a bodyguard put himself between Hitchens and Father Rutler to protect him. Several of the event organizers then escorted Hitchens to the men’s room and when he emerged he continued his psychotic rant, repeating the same calumnious and baseless screed as before. It was then that Father Rutler, in the most charitable manner, told Hitchens [for the second time] that he will `either die a madman or a Roman Catholic’. … Unless he faces his alcoholism soon, I am betting on the ‘madman’ ending for him.” (Private communication, name of source withheld by request, 17 September 2007)

Evidently, Mr. Hitchens never met Father Rutler before their May 1 encounter, and did not know who he was. It happens that Father Rutler is a hero of 9-11. He holds a special place in the hearts of New York City’s police and firemen, for he was with them that day at Ground Zero. Before Father Mychal Judge was struck dead by a body falling from the burning towers, Father Rutler stood side-by-side with Father Judge, hearing confessions and giving the last rites to firemen en route to their deaths.

[/quote]

Let’s see…..Father Rutler who gave last right to people at ground zero on 9-11 or a drunken Trotskite with bad manners and mental illness…..

It shows how absurd the world is that the man is still taken seriously about religion.

Also amusing was a discussion I heard between Dennis Prager and Hitchens. Prager prefaced his question by saying that most religious people question their beliefs throughout their lives. He then asked Hitchens if he ever doubted his atheism. Hitchens responded ‘No’. Of course Prager pointed out that he is just as blind in his ‘faith’ that there is no God as any religious person. Hitchens then said that he never said no! He twisted and turned whining that he never said it despite the fact that it was right there on tape. It was sort of amusing in a pathetic kind of way. It reminded me of when I told my Mother to ‘shut up’ in front of my Father. As he was getting ready to smack me I told him that I had not actually said that. Sadly, Dennis is too good natured and too much of a gentle debater to have given Hitchens the smack he needed.

Hitchens unlike the others reminds me of a young St. Augustine. St. Augustine prided himself on being able to out debate people, especially Catholic priests, when he was a Manichean. Later in life when he ‘sobered up’ so to speak, he looked back and saw that he was a fool, but a good rhetorician.

I recently came across a web posting by ‘PZ Meyers’. From what I can see he is trying to be the poor mans Richard Dawkins. Mr. Meyers pretty much embodies the modern atheist movement. He’s ignorant of what he is speaking of. He’s classless. He is a coward both intellectually and physically. And of course he has a gaggle of college kids that think he is clever. Let’s look at what passes for thought with Mr. Meyers.

Right out of the box he shows off his ignorance:

Webster Cook says he smuggled a Eucharist, a small bread wafer that to Catholics symbolic of the Body of Christ after a priest blesses it, out of mass, didn't eat it as he was supposed to do, but instead walked with it.

The humorous thing is that if he were not an ignoramus he would have a better case against Catholicism to the average Atheist. But as we all know that an imbecile and his opinion are often parted. Catholics do not believe that the Eucharist is the ‘symbolic’ body of Christ. Any introductory theology book would let him know that. Catholics believe it is actually the body of Christ. But hey why bother to actually know about the topic you are discussing when you can repeat ‘cracker’ over and over and curse a lot so that you look cool to your college students.

As a side note it is interesting that Mr. Meyers obviously has a strange need for acceptance. He is not a man that is acting his age. When I originally read his post I assumed he was 18 but in his picture he appears to be physically well past 20 which shocked me.

He goes on to say:

It’s a frigging Cracker!

Any person who reads his post sees that he repeats this over and over. An interesting thing is that I have taken communion over and over and I would not consider it a ‘cracker’. I would describe it more like styrofoam. But I digress. He is obviously trying to drive home the point that he finds Catholic beliefs foolish. Okay well fine. But let’s face it, he is not exactly the modern Voltaire. His silly taunts may go over well with his students but he comes across as someone who has not thought out his positions and just wants to ride the coat tails of other atheists who have made lots of money selling books about what they don’t believe.

More of his insights:

There are days when it is agony to read the news, because people are so goddamned stupid. Petty and stupid. Hateful and stupid. Just plain stupid. And nothing makes them stupider than religion.

There is one way that you can tell if a person is stupid. That is to see if they use the word ‘stupider’. Yes, I know it is technically a word but only teenagers and trailer trash use it. Which goes into my theory of Mr. Meyers and the fact that he has the mind of a child. Either his atheism has retarded his thought or he seems intent on showing that his doctorate is not in English or Philosophy.

He also struggles with consistency. He is complaining about people being hateful all the while calling people names. He is arguing that people are acting petty while he is acting petty (see his quote later on in this post). The entire post is a pathetic attempt for him to discuss topics that are obviously over his head.

He goes on:

This isn't the stupid part yet. He walked off with a cracker that was put in his mouth, and people in the church fought with him to get it back. It is just a cracker!

While I think death threats are deplorable and I think people have over-reacted I must say that this statement shows what Catholics have come to expect from Atheists, ignorance and childishness. People have desecrated the Eucharist in the past. There are strange superstitions that people have about torturing and desecrating the Eucharist. I encourage Mr. Meyers to actually read some history before he advertises to the world his ignorance of both theology and history. Again, Mr. Meyers shows that he struggles with consistency of thought. He is outraged that Catholics would worry about someone stealing the Eucharist to desecrate it and later in his post he advertises that he would like someone to steal the Eucharist and he would like to desecrate it! To say that he is a fool is unfair to fools. The man is stupid (but not stupider).

More wisdom from from the Mr. Meyers:

Oh, beyond hate speech. Where does this fit on the Shoah scale, Bill? It shouldn't even register, but here is Wild-Eyed Bill the Offended calling for the expulsion of a student…for not swallowing a cracker.

I actually dislike Bill Donohue. I hate that he is trying to be the Catholic Abe Foxman. And I actually hate the notion of ‘hate crimes’. I also agree that the student should not be expelled. But again this shows Mr. Meyers inconsistent thought. Of course this does not register in the ‘shoah scale’ but does it need to? In our modern world if someone were to walk into a Jewish synagogue, steal the Torah scroll and burn it they would be charged with a hate crime. There is no doubt that Abe Foxman would fly into a tantrum and call for the expulsion of the student. That is simply the world we live in. That is what Meyers is asking someone to do for him. If he had any understanding of Catholicism he would know that. But to Mr. Meyers as long is it is not the equivalent of the Holocaust it is not a big deal. To him Catholics should just sit back and take it. They have no right to defend what is sacred to them.

And this man teaches at a University?

He goes on to say:

That's right. Crazy Christian fanatics right here in our own country have been threatening to kill a young man over a cracker. This is insane. These people are demented fuckwits.

And here we have a grown man acting like a child. Yes, Meyers keep saying ‘fuck’ and your students will think you are really cool!

He even has people in his blog comments section making really thoughtful comments like:

All you people who say that PZ shouldn't do this because it is insulting to the devout, all of you should just fuck off.

And the part of the article that should make all atheists proud:

Can anyone out there score me some consecrated communion wafers? There's no way I can personally get them — my local churches have stakes prepared for me, I'm sure — but if any of you would be willing to do what it takes to get me some, or even one, and mail it to me, I'll show you sacrilege, gladly, and with much fanfare. I won't be tempted to hold it hostage (no, not even if I have a choice between returning the Eucharist and watching Bill Donohue kick the pope in the balls, which would apparently be a more humane act than desecrating a goddamned cracker), but will instead treat it with profound disrespect and heinous cracker abuse, all photographed and presented here on the web. I shall do so joyfully and with laughter in my heart. If you can smuggle some out from under the armed guards and grim nuns hovering over your local communion ceremony, just write to me and I'll send you my home address.

Here is where we see the ultimate in atheist thought. He is asking for someone to ‘score’ (again, act your age Meyers) him some consecrated Eucharists. This is the most sacred thing in the world to Catholics. He wants to desecrate it for all to see. He then preemptively mocks people for being upset by this. The man is a child. He is a old shriveled up bitter child that has a need for attention from other children. If it were not so pathetic it would be funny.

He then goes on to demonstrate his stupidity (or is that more stupider??) further by stating this in his com box:

No Jews have threatened me over my beliefs or what I choose to do in my own home. Neither have any Hindus or Buddhists. If someone tries to tell me that I can't throw away any bagel and lox I can't finish, then, well, it'll be time to desecrate rather than nosh.

Only a very stupid person would equate throwing away bagels and desecrating the Eucharist. The fact that the people of Minnesota are forced to pay his salary is a disgrace. It shows lack of standards American universities now have in their hiring practices.

Now, another interesting aspect of this is Mr. Meyers is in all actuality a coward. He is looking to pick a fight with Catholics because he knows deep down that they will not do anything to him. He sits there mocking Catholics because he knows he can get away with it. If he were really a man and not a boy he would pick bigger fish to fry. If he really wanted to demonstrate his point he would post attacking Islam in the same manner he is attacking Catholicism. If he were not a coward he would encourage people to go into a Mosque, steal a Koran and he would desecrate it on his website (please note that I do not suggest he do this as it would be very wrong). Some people on his com box claim he intends to do that but we know he won’t. No, he is too scared to do that. Instead he picks on Nuns and people who just want to go to Mass without atheist fools desecrating what they hold sacred.

As you can see the key ingredients to the modern atheist movement is both childishness and ignorance. I once had a discussion with an atheist who thought himself clever. After the usual non-sense about God being like ‘the Easter Bunny’ and ‘Santa’ and all other things Atheists find to be really strong arguments he finally just said ‘There is no proof of the existence of God’. I simply smiled and said ‘What have you read from the other side?’. Of course he was full of bravado and said ‘Just because the Bible says something doesn’t make it true!’. My response was ‘Okay but what have you read from the other side?’. After a bit of silence I asked ‘Have you read the Summa Theologia and were you able to dismiss all of the arguments made in that work?’ My friend the atheist responded ‘What’s that?’. The pathetic thing is that these people really are quite ignorant and should be mocked. They never actually engage the arguments. Instead they rely on childish statements that when examined end up being rather stupid..

I long for Catholics like Hiliare Belloc and GK Chesterton who exposed the foolishness of people like the modern atheists and defended the faith masterfully. Sadly, Catholic Apologists are too busy worrying about disproving ‘Sola Scriptura’. It is time that they wake up and realize they are literally kicking a dead horse. The intellectual enemy is no longer Protestantism. It is dying. The mainline Churches drank the kool-aid of modernism and are struggling to stay relevant. The ‘Fundamentalists’ are falling into the ‘health and wealth Gospel’ trap and will soon be irrelevant as well. It is time for Catholic Apologists to stand up and fight these intellectual midgets. These people may come across as bullies but like most bullies they are actually cowards and will run from a good fight. It’s time to stand up.

Heavy metal monk in second album

Heavy metal monk in second album

Brother Cesare in action with his band

At first glance, Cesare Bonizzi looks like the archetypal Capuchin monk - round-faced, stout, with twinkling eyes and a long flowing white beard. But beneath his robes beats a heart of metal.

Brother Cesare is the lead singer in a heavy metal band which has just released its second album.

A former missionary in the Ivory Coast, he lives in a small friary in the Milan hinterland.

The 62-year-old monk's love affair with heavy metal began when he attended a Metallica concert some 15 years ago.

"I was overwhelmed and amazed by the sheer energy of it" he says.

Brother Metal

Hard rock and heavy metal have, over the years, been criticised as the work of the devil.

It's a claim which Brother Cesare, also known as Brother Metal, says is nonsense.

He started playing and recording cassettes, firstly with "lighter" metal music, but gradually he realised that what really moved him was the hard core.

People think that I am in fancy dress, they can't believe a robed monk is on the stage playing their music  Brother Cesare Bonizzi

The members of his band were at first sceptical at the idea of teaming up with a Capuchin monk but their doubts soon evaporated.

"Five minutes after meeting Brother Cesare I decided to go ahead, because he manages to convey so much energy, that other musicians and youngsters often don't manage to express," lead guitarist, Cesare Zanotti, told Reuters.

Sex, drugs and alcohol

Brother Metal recently appeared in the Gods of Metal festival in Italy, along with giants such as Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Slayer, playing to a crowd of leather-clad hard-core metal fans.

"It was wonderful being there among all these young people" he told the Rome newspaper La Repubblica.

"The only problem was that at one stage out slipped a "what the f…" because each time some people think that I am in fancy dress, they can't believe a robed monk is on the stage playing their music".

With a booming voice, Brother Metal belts out lyrics that are decidedly gritty, talking about real-life issues and not shying away from sex, drugs and alcohol.

He does touch on faith and religion but is adamant that he is not seeking to draw people to Catholicism through his stage performances.

Video clips of his performances on YouTube have helped spread his popularity and fan base.

Devotion to God

His second heavy metal album, "Misteri" (Mysteries) has just been released.

In a sign of Brother Metal's eclecticism, it drew inspiration from a group of women in southern Italy who sang about Mary, the mother of Jesus, and a heavy metal version of that song is on the CD.

Other songs talk about how alcohol warms the heart but excess drinking can damage the liver, and how important sex is to man.

Brother Cesare says he has never had any trouble with his superiors over his choice of musical career and would like to send his new album to the Pope. "He is a music lover and metal is music!" he says.

While Brother Cesare always wears his traditional brown robe and sandals as a reminder that he has chosen a life of devotion to God, he is keen to distinguish established religion from faith, and from proselytising.

"I do it to convert people to life, to understand life, to grab hold of life, to savour it and enjoy it. Full stop" he says. 

----------------

Constantines Comment:

Speechless....

Ex-Anglican communities to become Catholic, Rome confirms

Ex-Anglican communities to become Catholic, Rome confirms

Wednesday, July 16, 2008, 01:08 PM GMT [General]

The Catholic Church will expand its provision of "Anglican Use" parishes in the United States in order to allow whole communities of traditionalist Anglicans into the Roman fold, a senior Catholic archbishop has announced.


Pope Benedict on a recent visit ot the Yankee Stadium in New York

The Most Rev John J Myers, Archbishop of Newark and Ecclesiastical Delegate for the Pastoral Provision, told a conference of ex-Anglicans on Friday that "we are working on expanding the mandate of the Pastoral Provision [of Catholic parishes using Anglican-inspired services] to include those clergy and faithful of 'continuing Anglican communities'.

"We are striving to increase awareness of our apostolate to Anglican Christians who desire to be reconciled with the Holy See. We have experienced the wonder of several Episcopal bishops entering into full communion with the Catholic Church and we continue to receive requests from priests and laity about the Pastoral Provision."

This is big news, and makes nonsense of the claim that Pope Benedict wants to dissuade Anglo-Catholics from converting. The obvious interpretation of the Archbishop's words is that the Traditional Anglican Communion (TAC), a "continuing church" which has hundreds of thousands of members worldwide (though few in the UK), will eventually be given its own Catholic parishes which use a Eucharistic Prayer incorporating Cranmerian language.

This possibility has existed since the 1970s, but Archbishop Myers indicates that it is only now - under a sympathetic Pope, and during the break-up of the Anglican Communion - that the Pastoral Provision is entering a new dimension.

If Rome is expanding its network of ex-Anglican parishes in America, then we can rest assured that it is sympathetic to the notion of group conversion in England. The Vatican is well aware that such a process is likely to be complicated and patchy; no one is naive enough to assume that entire parishes will "bring their buildings with them".

But the plan to found a priestly Fellowship of St Gregory the Great for ex-Anglican clergy and members of their flock seems eminently feasible, given imagination on the part of both sides - and the courage to defy the Tabletistas who would try to sabotage the scheme.

Hat tip to Perpetua for drawing my attention to Archbishop Myers's announcement, a truly remarkable development.:

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Constantines Comments:

As the Mainline Protestant Churches implode because of drinking the Kool-Aid of Modernism, expect more Christians to cross the Tiber.

Tony Snow, Former White House Press Secretary and FOX News Anchor, Dies at 53

As many of you know, I hate the Bush Administration.  I hate what they stand for and I hate where they have taken the country.  I hate that they have destroyed the conservative movement in the United States.

That being said, Tony Snow was a good guy.  When I heard of his death this morning I was truly depressed.  

I wish his talents and good nature were used for better purposes.  He did serve the Bush White House well and was the best face for a bad Administration.

May God bless him in his journey.  My God strengthen his wife for the trials that lay ahead of her.  And my God grand strength to his children.  They had a very fine father.

God Bless you, Tony.

Tony Snow, Former White House Press Secretary and FOX News Anchor, Dies at 53

Tony Snow, the former White House press secretary and conservative pundit who bedeviled the press corps and charmed millions as a FOX News television and radio host, died Saturday after a long bout with cancer. He was 53.

A syndicated columnist, editor, TV anchor, radio show host and musician, Snow worked in nearly every medium in a career that spanned more than 30 years.

• Click here for photos.

"Laura and I are deeply saddened by the death of our dear friend Tony Snow," President Bush said in a written statement. "The Snow family has lost a beloved husband and father. And America has lost a devoted public servant and a man of character."

Snow died at 2 a.m. Saturday at Georgetown University Hospital in Washington, D.C.

Snow joined FOX in 1996 as the original anchor of "FOX News Sunday" and hosted "Weekend Live" and a radio program, "The Tony Snow Show," before departing in 2006.

"It's a tremendous loss for us who knew him, but it's also a loss for the country," Roger Ailes, chairman of FOX News, said Saturday morning about Snow, calling him a "renaissance man."

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  • Tony Snow

• Click here to watch Brit Hume's tribute to Tony Snow.

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As a TV pundit and commentator for FOX News, Snow often was critical of Bush before he became the president's third press secretary, following Ari Fleischer and Scott McClellan. He was an instant study in the job, mastering the position — and the White House press corps — with apparent ease.

"One of the reasons I took this job is not only to work with the president, but, believe it or not, to work with all of you," Snow told reporters when he stepped into the post in 2006. "These are times that are going to be very challenging."

During a tenure marked by friendly jousting with journalists, Snow often danced around the press corps, occasionally correcting their grammar and speech even as he responded to their questions.

"Tony did his job with more flair than almost any press secretary before him," said William McGurn, Bush's former chief speechwriter. "He loved the give-and-take. But that was possible only because Tony was a man of substance who had real beliefs and principles that he was more than able to defend."

As he announced Snow as his new press secretary in May 2006, Bush praised him as "a man of courage [and] a man of integrity." Snow presided over some of the toughest fights of Bush's presidency, defending the administration during the Iraq war and the CIA leak investigation.

"I felt comfortable enough to interrupt him when he was BSing, and he kind of knew it, and he'd shut up and move on," Snow said.

His tenure at the White House lasted 17 months and was interrupted by his second bout with cancer.

• FOX Facts: Tony Snow's Battle With Cancer

Snow had his colon removed and underwent six months of chemotherapy after he was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2005. In 2007 he announced his cancer had recurred and spread to his liver, and he had a malignant growth removed from his abdominal area.

He resigned from the White House six months later, in September 2007, citing not his health but a need to earn more than the $168,000 a year he was paid in the government post. He was replaced by his deputy, Dana Perino, Bush's current press secretary.

After taking time off to recuperate, Snow joined CNN as a political commentator early this year.

At the White House, Snow brought partisan zeal and the skills of a seasoned performer to the task of explaining and defending the president's policies. During daily briefings he challenged reporters, scolded them and questioned their motives as if he were starring in a TV show broadcast live from the West Wing.

"The White House has lost a great friend and a great colleague," said Perino in a statement released to the media. "We all loved watching him at the podium, but most of all we learned how to love our families and treat each other."

Critics suggested Snow was turning the traditionally informational daily briefing into a personality-driven media event short on facts and long on confrontation. He was the first press secretary, by his own accounting, to travel the country raising money for Republican candidates.

As a commentator, he had not always been on the president's side. He once called Bush "something of an embarrassment" in conservative circles and criticized what he called Bush's "lackluster" domestic policy.

A sometime fill-in host for Rush Limbaugh, Snow said he loved the intimacy of his radio audience.

"I don't think you ever arrive," he said. "I think anybody who thinks they've arrived or made it, anywhere in the media — they're nuts."

Robert Anthony Snow was born June 1, 1955, in Berea, Ky., the son of a teacher and nurse. He graduated from Davidson College in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in philosophy, and he taught briefly in Kenya before embarking on his journalism career.

Because of his love for writing, Snow took a job as an editorial writer for the Greensboro Record in North Carolina and went on to run the editorial pages at the Newport News (Virginia) Daily Press, Detroit News and Washington Times. He became a nationally syndicated columnist, and in 1991 he became director of speechwriting for President George H.W. Bush.

"He served people, and we can learn from that. He was kind, and we can learn from that. He was just a good person," the senior Bush told FOX News.

• Remembering Tony Snow

Snow played six instruments — saxophone, trombone, flute, piccolo, accordion and guitar — and was in a D.C. cover band called Beats Workin'. He also was a film buff.

"He was a great musician," Ailes said. "And he loved movies."

More than anything, said Snow's colleagues, he was a joy to work with.

"He was a lot of fun," his former FOX News producer Griff Jenkins said. "This is a loss of a family member."

FOX News Chief Washington Correspondent Jim Angle called Snow a "gentleman."

Snow is survived by his wife, Jill Ellen Walker, whom he married in 1987; their son, Robbie; and daughters, Kendall and Kristi.