Bill Kassel's Blog

Occasional reflections on religion, culture, politics, and anything else that comes into my mind...

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Moral Choices & Actions

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

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MORAL CONSCIENCE
VS. SPIRIT OF #METOO

Recent controversy over the classic winter pop song, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” reveals much about our present state of moral reasoning.

Written by Frank Loesser — best known as composer and lyricist for the Broadway musicals, “Guys and Dolls” and “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” — the song is a clever exploration of the tug-of-war between conscience and hypocrisy to which sexual desire often subjects us.

The premise of the song is as simple as it is universal: A girl knows she should remove herself from a sexually charged situation while a guy attempts to distract her from the warning bells ringing inside her head.

The humor of the piece lies in the obvious fact that she isn’t listening too closely to those bells and her resistance to his entreaties is half-hearted at best.

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A Token of Good Will

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THE GREETING “MERRY CHRISTMAS”
EXPRESSES GENEROSITY OF SPIRIT

While our annual debate over the holiday greeting “Merry Christmas” seems to have lost some sharpness, the issue is far from settled.

There are plenty of folks who still charge Christians with cultural imperialism. Likewise, the impulse to defend the traditional salutation asserts itself regularly.

While I surely see that some of the anti-“Merry Christmas” sentiment expresses rejection of Christianity (or even outright attacks on the Faith), there’s also a good deal of simple misunderstanding about what the greeting really conveys.

Back in December of 2013 I posted an essay that attempted to clarify what people mean when they wish someone “Merry Christmas” (or at least what I mean by it). I’ve reposted the piece in subsequent years.

As it remains relevant, here it is again…

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Conversation Avoided

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MEGAN KELLY COLLIDED WITH
A PAINFUL POP CULTURE IMAGE

The uproar over Megan Kelly’s remarks about white people in blackface demonstrates once again that there are certain issues so emotionally charged that it’s all too easy to give unintended offense when addressing them.

Megan made a very odd assertion that when she was a kid, blackface was okay at Halloween, as long as you were dressing up as a particular “character.” That comment raised questions, not only about what “characters” might have been acceptable in those days, but about the kind of neighborhood in which she did her trick-or-treating.

Nevertheless, video footage of her “Today Show” discussion shows clearly that she was not unaware that blackface is considered offensive. Rather, she was attempting to draw a distinction between being sensitive to other people’s feelings and being crushed under the arbitrary dictates of political correctness.

That someone with her media savvy and cool presence did it so awkwardly shows how delicate such a task can be.

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Gifs, Tiffs & Tweets

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CONSIDERING AN UP-SIDE
TO ONLINE NASTINESS

The shared experiences of a society tend to reveal the attitudes of individuals within it.

For example, if you’ve ever watched film footage of the Nazi era in Germany — especially the great propaganda epics created by Joseph Goebbels and Leni Riefenstahl — you’ve probably been struck by the genuine enthusiasm of the crowds.

To be sure, the shots featured were selected and edited to demonstrate broad support for Hitler and his movement. But the overwhelming numbers of enraptured faces recorded on film leave no doubt that large portions of the German population were swept up in a collective frenzy.

Those folks would feel differently by the end of World War II, when Germany was in ruins and enthusiasm had turned to anguish. But at Nazism’s rise, many people opened their hearts to der Führer, embracing his promises as their own personal hopes.

Today we’re watching the attitudes of individuals reveal themselves in the unique confluence of politics and social media.

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Kavanaugh v. Ford

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EMOTION OUTWEIGHS ALL IN
THE CONFIRMATION DISPUTE

The Democrats have certainly shown they’re great at planning ahead.

After silently lining up accusers to tar Brett Kavanaugh with a colorful variety of sex-abuse allegations — of which Christine Ford’s is only one — they’ve got their next argument ready for his confirmation vote…

His extreme emotional reaction to Ford’s charge shows he lacks the proper “judicial temperament” to sit on the Supreme Court.

If you haven’t heard that notion yet, you will soon.

But preparations don’t stop there. Lefty media mouthpieces are already announcing the strategy for blocking the assault on Roe v. Wade they assume would follow Kavanaugh’s ascension to the Court.

As reported by Breitbart News, Terry Moran, chief foreign correspondent for ABC, laid it all out during coverage of the committee hearing…

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Book Bind

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EVEN JESUS’ RELATIVES
ARE NOT SCAM-FREE

Today’s high-tech pirates will use anything in their nefarious schemes. I’ve discovered that some bad characters are using my novel about the family of Jesus.

If you should stumble onto an alleged free book site designated “ePm.eBook,” that displays the cover of my novel, do not — repeat, DO NOT! — click on any of the links or buttons. You won’t get a free copy of MY BROTHER’S KEEPER.

What you will get is malware that can foul up your computer or co-opt it for some unknown wicked purpose.

I suppose, in a perverted sort of way, this is a testament to my book’s appeal. But I hate to think of playing even an innocent part in causing harm.

When I discovered the “ePm.eBook” site, I contacted my eBook distributer. A tech-support agent advised…

“This is not a legitimate outlet. It’s an automatically generated page created by internet trolls using publicly available information off of Amazon or other sites. They don’t actually have the book, they just put up a ‘free download’ button to trick people into clicking download and inviting all sorts of malware and viruses onto their computer. Your best bet for combating this is to report them to Google and have them remove it from their search indexes.”

I’m doing that. But “ePm.eBook” or some other version of this scam will likely just pop up under a different name, and my book could appear again.

So be careful.

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The Virtues of St. Joseph

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JESUS’ FOSTER FATHER AS
A TIMELESS ROLE MODEL

Reni's St. JosephOur extended family was enlarged last week when my wife’s niece, Jessica, gave birth to a baby girl.

This occasion brought to our in-box the requisite photo of grandparents, Chris and Joe, framing their daughter reclining in hospital bed with little Emily Anne in her arms.

Jessie bore the classic new-mother expression that blends joy with exhaustion (it was a long labor). Chris’ and Joe’s faces were all pride.

I was particularly struck by the image of Joe, who is considerably older than Chris and struggling with severe health complications. The family prayer during those months of Jessie’s pregnancy had been that Joe might live to see his grandchild.

Praise God, he made it.

Joe’s birthday is March 19, which on the liturgical calendar is the feast day of St. Joseph, for whom he was named. His patron saint also receives recognition on May 1, the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, which was established in 1955 by Pope Pius XII to provide a Christian alternative to the May Day labor celebrations promoted worldwide by the Soviet Union and the Communist Internationale.

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