Bill Kassel's Blog

To Think in a New Way

September 21, 2018 By Bill Kassel 3 Comments

WORKING AROUND SOME OF THE
STUMBLING BLOCKS TO FAITH

A recent Pew Research Center survey reveals that young people who list themselves as having no church affiliation (the “nones,” as they’re called) usually have a very simple and obvious reason for not coming to the Church or for deciding to leave it.

And it’s not the poor quality of the music, or the supposed irrelevance of the preaching, or the unfriendliness of the congregation, or the ineffectiveness of the youth ministry, or other such concerns, discouraging as all those may be.

The bottom line for most disaffected young people is that they simply don’t accept the Christian story. As reported by Fox News…

Baby Bottoms & Original Intent

September 17, 2018 By Bill Kassel Leave a Comment

A NEW SYSTEM FOR PICKING
SUPREME COURT JUSTICES

So…the Democrats have dug up another Anita Hill — a politically motivated woman who suddenly remembers some dastardly act on the part of a Supreme Court nominee years after the time it’s alleged to have happened.

Goes to show how powerful are the psychological forces that can suppress traumatic memories until just the moment when their reemergence hinders the plans of a Republican President.

Amazing.

History does repeat itself.

I, for one, think this is for the best, because it lends support to an idea I’ve been mulling over about a better system for staffing the Supreme Court.

The Watchdog

September 9, 2018 By Bill Kassel 2 Comments

“INSIDE RESISTANCE” IS THE
HOT ANTI-TRUMP MEME

The latest salvo in the war on Donald Trump is an op-ed commentary in The New York Times purportedly from a member of the White House “inner circle.” This writer, whom The Times refuses to identify, claims to represent “inside resistance,” a group of staffers devoted to keeping the President from following his most erratic impulses.

The question that comes immediately to mind is…

Does this person actually exist — which is to say, Is this really a Trump minion? — or has The New York Times perpetrated a hoax?

[Read more…] about The Watchdog

The Three-Ring Sign

September 5, 2018 By Bill Kassel 4 Comments

CAN WE EVEN CALL IT
WHITE SUPREMACY?

As if we descendants of European immigrants weren’t self-conscious enough about the social privileges we’re alleged to enjoy, now we must be on guard against suspicious gestures.

An attorney and close associate of Judge Brett Kavanaugh was outed as a secret White Supremacist because of the positioning of her arms during the opening day of congressional hearings for Kavanaugh’s Supreme Court nomination.

Seated immediately behind him, Zina Bash, who is on his confirmation prep team, was caught by TV cameras unconsciously resting her right hand on her left forearm with fingers in a pattern some interpreted as a representation of the letters “W” and “P,” standing for “White Power.”

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Carole Jane

September 1, 2018 By Bill Kassel 2 Comments

A WOMAN WHO KNEW HER FAITH
GOES TO MEET THE LORD

Pretty much all the guys in my high school fell in love with Carole Jane at one time or another. Some may have dated her; I’m not sure how much dating she did. But I can tell you that I was never in the running.

A deeply confirmed Baptist, she made it clear to me, in the sweetest possible way, that my weak, agnostic grasp of Christianity ruled me out as a possible beau.

I wasn’t happy about that. But I had to admire her standards.

[Read more…] about Carole Jane

A Tale of Two Hats

August 12, 2018 By Bill Kassel 2 Comments

AMID POLITICAL DIVISIVENESS
WE NEED TO TALK AND LISTEN

John Pavlovitz is a minister, a writer, and a rising star of liberal Protestantism. His blog, “Stuff that Needs to Be Said,” has a wide readership, and his books are prominent among Amazon.com’s Christian Living titles. [Read more…] about A Tale of Two Hats

Praise Be to God!

August 2, 2018 By Bill Kassel 2 Comments

MY BROTHER’S KEEPER
WINS 2018 LILY AWARD

I’m honored to announce that my novel about the family of Jesus, MY BROTHER’S KEEPER, has received the 2018 Catholic Arts & Letters Award — known as the “Lily” — from the Catholic Writers Guild.

The award was announced Wednesday, August 1, at the Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show, held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It was this year’s choice in the Adult Fiction category. Winner in the Children’s / Young Adult Fiction category was “Playing by Heart” by Carmela Martino.

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Colluding for Peace

July 19, 2018 By Bill Kassel 3 Comments

HELSINKI WASN’T GREAT
BUT IT WAS A START

Have you noticed how people who insist the United States should have no borders are obsessing over Russian threats to our national interest?

Of course, one could ask if we have a national interest, by their definition.

For that matter, are we even a nation?

One particularly lewd cartoon making the rounds on Facebook shows the Russian bear mounting and having its way with a prostrate Donald Trump.

It’s the latest entry in a seemingly endless flood of invective by which crudity passes for political sophistication…

See? We told you the big fool was Putin’s whore.

[Read more…] about Colluding for Peace

Can’t Help Themselves

July 6, 2018 By Bill Kassel 4 Comments

CALLING TRUMP A RACIST
MARS THANEDAR CAMPAIGN

Shri Thanedar (pronounced “Shree Tannadar”) burst onto the Michigan political scene with a self-funded, $80,000 Super Bowl TV spot for the Democratic gubernatorial primary.

That first ad succeeded brilliantly. It not only gained visibility for the 63-year-old, India-born immigrant (who earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Akron), it established him as a down-to-earth, nice guy who doesn’t take himself too seriously. It also boldly declared him to be “the most Progressive candidate” running for governor.

History’s Highways

July 3, 2018 By Bill Kassel 1 Comment

WE GOT GOOD DIRECTIONS
FROM THE NATION’S FOUNDERS

The following reflection is adapted from an essay I posted on this blog for Independence Day 2014…

One summer during college I worked for the Bucks County Historical Tourist Commission. My job was to drive around eastern Pennsylvania and nearby portions of New Jersey, stocking the map racks of gas stations, restaurants, motels, and other tourist haunts with copies of “Highways of History,” a large, folded map highlighting places of historical and cultural interest in Bucks County. [Read more…] about History’s Highways

Fr. Joe Krupp

June 27, 2018 By Bill Kassel 18 Comments

A GIFTED PRIEST
MOVES ON

Hardly a day goes by without someone pontificating on how to achieve a “proper” worshipful atmosphere at Mass.

You have your advocates of “sanctity.” You have your advocates of “welcoming.”

You have your organ music lovers. You have your guitar fans.

And don’t even go near the ongoing debate over communion in the hand.

For all that, it’s been my experience that the greatest determinant of parish spirit — both in communal worship and in overall faith life — is the pastor.

The priest sets the tone.

A good priest brings all the factions together, bridging divergent expectations and points of view.

A great priest creates an atmosphere of love.

Fr. Joe Krupp is such a priest.

[Read more…] about Fr. Joe Krupp