Sunday, May 4 in Monmouth County

It’s Sunday, May 4 in Monmouth County. 
As usual I am up with the birds and pounding away on my computer.
Not sure what the day will bring. 
Will there be rain or will the sun be shining? Either way here are some events that are sure to please. 

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

NJ Friends of Clearwater seeks Vendors & Volunteers & Sponsors

New Jersey Friends of CLEARWATER FESTIVAL is celebrating
it’s 39th Annual Environmental Festival on
Saturday, September 13, 11:00 am – 7:00 pm &
Sunday, September 14, 11:00 am – 5:00 pm

Yes That is Right!! THIRTY-NINE YEARS !!

The NJ Friends of Clearwater Festival is New Jersey Friends of Clearwater’s annual open-air music and arts festival celebrating the spirit of people working and singing together for the environment.

From Sandy Hook to Asbury Park and NOW in Long Branch
The New Jersey Friends of CLEARWATER FESTIVAL has a strong
following of faithful earth-loving attendees.

This Year’s Theme: What Would Pete Do?
A Dedication to Our Founder: Pete Seeger

This year’s Festival is Located at The Great Lawn
Off of Ocean Blvd, Long Branch, NJ 07740
Near The Beautiful Ocean Place Resort & Spa
The event is handicapped accessible and sign language
interpreters are available.

We are also celebrating Our 40th Anniversary As a Sloop Club.
We would love for you to be a part of our Celebration.
Concern for our environment is becoming more crucial with each passing day. The education ofour youth is so important to all of us. There is a
serious decline in family-friendly entertainment like our festival.
Won’t you take a few moments to consider how you can help make this year’s Clearwater Festival as successful as possible?

Please help us by Sponsoring Us. Write to Ed Dlugosz at [email protected] or call 732-859-5752

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Political Conservatism and Religious Conservatism

By Art Gallagher

A couple of weeks back, in between the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, presidential contender Rick Santorum was subject to claims that he wanted to outlaw birth control.

During an interview with FoxNews’s Brett Baier, Santorum explained that as a Catholic he believed that birth control is wrong, but that he would not support his religious belief regarding birth control becoming law.  With regard to birth control, Santorum is able to be both a political conservative and a religious conservative.  The position is politically conservative, consistent with the U.S. Constitution, religious freedom and personal liberty.  His choice to strictly follow the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church regarding sex and procreation is religiously conservative.

Political conservatism and religious conservatism are not the same thing. 

Actually, neither of them are “things.”  They are abstractions.  Philosophical constructs. Values.  They are not things.

Political conservatism and religious conservatism are not the same distinction.  Santorum demonstrated in his interview with Baier that, in the matter of birth control, he is both politically conservative and religiously conservative.

In a follow up Baier asked about marriage.  Regarding marriage, Santorum’s religious conservatism trumps his political conservatism, it seems to me.  The former Pennsylvania senator is able to think, to distinguish, between his political conservatism and religious conservatism, with regard to birth control, but homosexuality is too much of a sin for Santorum to distinguish between his religious convictions and the law of the land.

Why that is doesn’t really make sense to me. 

The Catholic Church teaches that practicing birth control is a mortal sin.  If a faithful heterosexual married couple bumps uglies with a barrier, physical or surgical, or with the use of a chemical, that prevents conception, they are going to hell if they die before they get to confession.  If they bump the uglies in the wrong holes, like homosexuals do, and die before confessing, off to Lucifer they go for eternity.   That’s OK with the politically conservative Santorum and many, many others.

If a faithful same sex couple bumps uglies in the wrong holes and die before going to confession, they are also going to hell, according to Catholic teaching.  But while their queer souls are here on earth, in the United States of America, Santorum and many other religious conservatives want them to have different political rights and responsibilities than the heterosexual couple.

I don’t get how that is politically conservative.   Why is same sex marriage different than birth control in the minds of Santorum and so many “conservatives?”

Can someone explain that to me?

• Tweet