sparrows and sandcastles

Latest Blog Posts - sparrows and sandcastles

• violent feminists attack praying men
  on Dec 5, 2013 in contemporary affairs sexuality society Argentina Chew Hongjie Chew Hongjie Blog Contemporary affairs current affairs deconstruct the family unit feminist horde feminist violence feminists harrassing catholic faithful outside church homosexual monogamy homosexual rights movement I repent of ever supporting the homosexual rights movement LGBT community LGBT rights movement political propagandising sexual promiscuity Shameless promiscuity sparrows and sandcastles blog by Chew Hongjie Sparrows and Sandcastles Blog by Zhou Hongjie the childish antics of the feminists the LGBT community does not care less about fidelity violent feminists violent feminists attack catholic church in argentina world news Zhou Hongjie Zhou Hongjie Blog
    If there is one thing I detest more than religious fundamentalism, it is violence. In any form.   The feminist horde harrassing a group of praying Catholic men protecting the cathedral from vandalism.   Group of Catholic men and...
• “sex education isn’t neutral”
  on Dec 5, 2013 in education sexuality "sex education isn't neutral" by Lydia McGrew abstinence casual sex chastity Chew Hongjie Chew Hongjie Blog encourages sexual activity by unmarried kids gospel of promiscuity it communicates that unmarried sexual activity is normal and expected one of the clearest of a teacher's expressly indoctrinating students in the gospel of promiscuity premarital sex public schools safe sex sex education Sex education is not morally neutral sexual activity social conservatives sometimes sex can be more casual and isn’t always a part of something serious sparrows and sandcastles blog by Chew Hongjie Sparrows and Sandcastles Blog by Zhou Hongjie the continued liberal pretense that sex education in K-12 schools has not increased sexual activity among minors is in conflict not only with empirical evidence They were all talking about how sex doesn’t have to be something for marriage or long term relationships unmarried sexual activity Zhou Hongjie Zhou Hongjie Blog
  by Lydia McGrew   For years and years, amounting to decades, social conservatives have been saying that sex education a) should be taught by parents and b) as taught in public schools is not neutral but in fact encourages sexual activity by unma...
• “inclusiveness: a harmful ideology”
  on Dec 5, 2013 in philosophy society "inclusiveness: a harmful ideology" by James Kalb Chew Hongjie Chew Hongjie Blog Christmas complementary qualities Crisis Magazine egalitarian family great age of inclusiveness great age of inequality Human relations If you think the natural and traditional view of marriage is better that means you hate people who like something else inclusiveness inclusiveness comes out of the same attempt to make knowledge rigorous and human action sovereign over nature that led to modern science and technology Inclusiveness has helped destroy connections among ordinary people marriage natural law nature of inclusiveness objective moral order social environment sparrows and sandcastles blog by Chew Hongjie Sparrows and Sandcastles Blog by Zhou Hongjie traditional view of marriage war against Christmas welfare state Zhou Hongjie Zhou Hongjie Blog
  by James Kalb   We hear a lot about inclusiveness, but the topic is never discussed analytically. The idea seems to be that it’s warm and fuzzy and what Jesus would do, so it’s obviously a good thing. The result is that our world is being r...
• “what makes a marriage?”
  on Dec 3, 2013 in family the culture of life "what makes a marriage?" a couple-like union of three a marital lease a permanent union an emotional union for personal fulfillment annual Fall Conference Catholicism Center for Ethics and Culture Chew Hongjie Chew Hongjie Blog civil marriage comprehensive commitment comprehensive cooperation of bodily union and its fulfilment in family and domestic life comprehensive union Dan Savage family life fragmented families if the law redefines marriage as simple companionship - then every other distinguishing feature of marriage - will become arbitrary in principle in coitus a man and a woman participate in a bodily coordination with a single bodily end - reproduction - that pertains to the whole love makes a marriage marital love marriage Marriage calls for the wide sharing of domestic life because it’s inherently fulfilled by family life marriage is about attaching a man and a woman as husband and wife to be father and mother to any children their union produces Marriage makes a man likelier to be committed both to the children that he helps generate and to their mother marriage requires a permanent and exclusive commitment monogamish monogamy no-fault divorce (we now know) didn’t simply make the separation process easier but weakened public appreciation of permanence participated in a public conversation with Professor Charles Reid permanence Professor Charles Reid public policy Redefining marriage collapses the distinction between marriage and companionship in principle and in practice Robert George Ryan Anderson sex is what makes a man and a woman permanently bonded sexual complementarity sexual exclusivity sexual intercourse Sherif Gergis sparrows and sandcastles blog by Chew Hongjie Sparrows and Sandcastles Blog by Zhou Hongjie the act that makes marital love is also the kind of act that makes new life the marriage debate there is more to marriage Zhou Hongjie Zhou Hongjie Blog
  by Sherif Gergis, Ryan Anderson & Robert George     Earlier this month, at the annual Fall Conference of Notre Dame’s Center for Ethics and Culture, two of us (Girgis and Anderson) participated in a public conversation with Professor...
• elitist mediacorp “game” show
  on Dec 3, 2013 in English language english pronunciation popular culture "Say the Word" Beautiful young contestants Bourgeois-wannabe Singaporeans Bourgeois-wannabe Singaporeans might enjoy this so-called educational quiz show which claims to entertain with standard British phonetic trivia Chew Hongjie Chew Hongjie Blog David Crystal elitist mediacorp "game" show English Language English pronunciation Henry Hitchings historical socially elitist provenance I do not pretend to have the financial balls to luxuriate in such gastronomical ostentation Its intentions however well-meaning appear to appeal to the status and image-conscious bourgeoisie whose elitist aspirations are reminiscent of the anglophone demographic in Singapore John C. Wells linguistic evolution and change Mediacorp Mediacorp Channel Five Michael Rosen new local gameshow part of our local colloquial buffet of terms which makes the Singaporean linguistic landscape colourful and interesting Peter Trudgill pilot episode Popular Culture Singlish sparrows and sandcastles blog by Chew Hongjie Sparrows and Sandcastles Blog by Zhou Hongjie standard British phonetic trivia Standard simply means socio-linguistic convention The premise that there is a "standard" British way of English pronunciation that is "correct" is problematic The skit which depicts an exaggerated British speaker named B. B. See correcting a typical Singlish speaker on why she should use the word reserve instead of "chope" is to me language-wise puritanical There is also no pegagogical magisterium which dictates what is right or wrong in the English language there is no such thing as a "correct" form of English whose elitist aspirations are reminiscent of the anglophone demographic in Singapore xinmsn catch-up TV Zhou Hongjie Zhou Hongjie Blog
      There is a new local gameshow at nine p.m. every Tuesday on free-to-air Mediacorp Channel Five. Last night’s was the second episode. I decided to watch the pilot episode on Mediacorp’s new media platform, xinmsn catch-up T...
• letter to an atheist
  on Nov 30, 2013 in atheism christian apologetics christian theology "Introduction to Christianity" by Joseph Ratzinger "Prinzip Menschlichkeit" by Joachim Bauer a reference to the changing of the water of the Torah into the exquisite wine of the Gospel a Subject and a Person a verifiable method Albert Schweitzer an explicit denial of the principle of reality An important function of theology is to keep religion tied to reason and reason to religion An objective reason always presupposes a subject anthropomorphism anthropomorphisms are needed in order to overcome the arrogance of thought articles by Pope Benedict XVI Artificial intelligence Bach Beethoven Benedict of Nursia Brahms Bruckner Camillo de Lellis Chew Hongjie Chew Hongjie Blog Christian Apologetics Christian theology crede ut intellegas Darwinism ensure rationality in their respective and various modalities every concept of God can only be analogical and that dissimilarity with the true God is always infinitely greater than likeness exclude arbitrariness Fourth Lateran Council Francis and Claire of Assisi fundamental themes of human existence Haydn historical Jesus historical-critical exegesis Jacques Monod John of the Cross Leben-Jesu-Forschung logos Maria Schwemer Martin Hengel math and science are the only true religion Mozart mystical psychosis neither should we keep silent about the great shining path of goodness and purity which the Christian faith has traced out over the course of the centuries no serious theologian will be of the opinion that God repeatedly at intermediate levels had to intervene almost manually in the process of development no serious theologian will dispute that the entire “tree of life” is in a living internal relationship only mathematics is “science” in the strictest sense of the word Palestrina Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI Professor Odifreddi reduction of the grandeur religion of mathematics Richard Dawkins’ selfish gene Scholastica sparrows and sandcastles blog by Chew Hongjie Sparrows and Sandcastles Blog by Zhou Hongjie surprised by a certain aggressiveness and rashness of argumentation Teresa of Avila The American seminar on Jesus the artistic beauty which the faith has given to the world the conception of the primordial and creative Reason as a Person with its own “I” the emergence of life the four typologies developed by Darwin the gift of nuptial joy which God offers in abundance to men The Logos that stands at the beginning of all things is a Logos above all logoi the music which has been inspired by faith the origin of consciousness of the most highly developed living beings the perception of the senses the problems of social Darwinism the question regarding the origin of the universe the veneration of rationality the Wedding at Cana theology has produced lasting results this deviant behaviour should not be ostensibly presented as a filthy crime which only exists in the Catholic Church totally Other transcends the limitations of the human senses true religiosity Vincent de Paul What you say about the person of Jesus is not worthy of your scientific standing Zhou Hongjie Zhou Hongjie Blog
  by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI   Distinguished Professor Odifreddi,   First, I must apologize for the fact that I am only thanking you today for sending me your book, Caro Papa, ti scrivo, and for the kind words which you addressed to me at...
• this is depressing…
  on Nov 28, 2013 in christian theology contemporary affairs popular culture society Chew Hongjie Chew Hongjie Blog Christian theology Contemporary affairs contemporary youth culture I assume the preoccupation with the skin-deep is an adolescent issue I don't need to subscribe to sartorial "rules" and trends to feel good It does not help that Mediacorp told her "she had to lose weight" It was not the weather when I stripped my top every time I ran It was not to swim when I visited the public pool Kelly Latimer makes the atheist humanist position morally and emotionally bankrupt My then choice of apparel showed my adolescent insecurity to flaunt One finds oneself in God Popular Culture psychological discomfort and unease Rabbi Jonathan Sacks Singapore TV Host Kelly Latimer's Stunning Physical Makeover sparrows and sandcastles blog by Chew Hongjie Sparrows and Sandcastles Blog by Zhou Hongjie the feminine ideal of beauty equals that of the masculine musclebound ideal the meaning of a system lies outside the system UK-born Singaporean Freelance TV Host & Voice artiste When I graduated and came back to Singapore in 2008 - I see skinny girls everywhere and I got massively depressed Yahoo News Zhou Hongjie Zhou Hongjie Blog
    “I got fat. Australian food is awesome and my boyfriend (now fiancé) loves to watch me eat. When I graduated and came back to Singapore in 2008, I see skinny girls everywhere and I got massively depressed, so I decided I had to lose weight...
• “why hooking up is letting you down”
  on Nov 27, 2013 in sexuality society "Last Night in Paradise" by Katie Roiphe "Promiscuities" by Naomi Wolf "why hooking up is letting you down" by J Budziszewski Although we find pleasure in exercising our sexual powers - pleasure is not their purpose articles by J Budziszewski Be faithful to your spouse beginning to sound like the children of third-generation Maoists Care for your children Chew Hongjie Chew Hongjie Blog friends with benefits Honor your parents J Budziszewski Let the sexual revolution bury the sexual revolution Make marriage fruitful Our hearts and bodies are designed to work together physical encounters without any expectation of relationship procreation Save sex for marriage sexual liberation sexual morality sparrows and sandcastles blog by Chew Hongjie Sparrows and Sandcastles Blog by Zhou Hongjie The ideology of hooking up says that sex is merely release or recreation the natural laws of sex the Peter Pan syndrome The problem with twenty-first-century Western sexuality is that it flouts the embedded principles and the inbuilt meanings of the human sexual design the sexual revolution to think of pleasure as the purpose of intercourse is to treat our bodies merely as tools for sending agreeable sensations to our minds we aren’t designed for hooking up Zhou Hongjie Zhou Hongjie Blog
  by J. Budziszewski   Midnight. Shelly is getting herself drunk so that she can bring herself to go home with the strange man seated next to her at the bar. One o’clock.Steven is busy downloading pornographic images of children from internet...
• “key quotes from evangelii gaudium”
  on Nov 26, 2013 in christian theology "key quotes from evangelii gaudium" by Catholic Herald UK a growing deterioration of ethics a missionary impulse a steady increase in relativism a weakening of the sense of personal and collective sin All renewal in the Church must have mission as its goal if it is not to fall prey to a kind of ecclesial introversion an economy of exclusion and inequality authentic Islam and the proper reading of the Koran are opposed to every form of violence Can we continue to stand by when food is thrown away while people are starving? Catholic Herald UK Chew Hongjie Chew Hongjie Blog Christian theology Commitment to ecumenism responds to the prayer of the Lord Jesus that ‘they may all be one’ ecumenism environment for hearing God’s word evangelii gaudium Evangelisation is attentive to scientific advances and wishes to shed on them the light of faith and the natural law so that they will remain respectful of the centrality and supreme value of the huma exploitation from the depth of the obligation assumed by the spouses who accept to enter a total communion of life God shows the poor ‘his first mercy’ How can it be that it is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure - but it is news when the stock market loses two points? human rights I humbly entreat those countries to grant Christians freedom to worship and to practice their faith - in light of the freedom which followers of Islam enjoy in Western countries! I want a Church which is poor and for the poor in their difficulties they know the suffering Christ It is not ‘progressive’ to try to resolve problems by eliminating a human life John Paul II let us be ‘permanently in a state of mission’ Marriage now tends to be viewed as a form of mere emotional satisfaction that can be constructed in any way or modified at will oppression peace Pope Francis positivism precious Christian witness profess to hold the faith of Abraham scientism secularism social harmony sparrows and sandcastles blog by Chew Hongjie Sparrows and Sandcastles Blog by Zhou Hongjie the absolute rights of individuals the Church has made an option for the poor which is understood as a ‘special form of primacy in the exercise of Christian charity the Church living in the midst of the homes of her sons and daughters the defence of life the evangelization of today’s world the existence of objective moral norms the family is the fundamental cell of society the Gospel of peace the indispensible contribution of marriage to society transcends the feelings and momentary needs of the couple the light of reason and the light of faith both come from God The new evangelization is an invitation to acknowledge the saving power at work in their lives and to put them at the centre of the Church’s pilgrim way The parish is not an outdated institution - precisely because it possesses great flexibility - it can assume quite different contours depending on the openness and missionary creativity of the pastor The parish is the presence of the Church in a given territory The process of secularization tends to reduce the faith and the Church to the sphere of the private and personal The reservation of the priesthood to males - as a sign of Christ the Spouse who gives himself in the Eucharist - is not a question open to discussion The sacred writings of Islam have retained some Christian teachings the value of the human person They also acknowledge the need to respond to God with an ethical commitment and with mercy towards those most in need two thousand year experience we are pilgrims journeying alongside one another We Christians should embrace with affection and respect Muslim immigrants to our countries in the same way that we hope and ask to be received and respected in countries of Islamic tradition where the powerful feed upon the powerless Zhou Hongjie Zhou Hongjie Blog
  by Catholic Herald UK   On evangelisation…   “I am aware that nowadays documents do not arouse the same interest as in the past and that they are quickly forgotten. Nevertheless, I want to emphasise that what I am trying to express here...
• “some clarifications on ‘no one is born gay’”
  on Nov 26, 2013 in contemporary affairs sexuality society "Some Clarifications on 'No one is born Gay'" by Jane Ward “sexual orientations” are formed after we are born Chew Hongjie Chew Hongjie Blog Contemporary affairs Girls and women have risked rape and death to attend school or to be out in public at night homophobia Jane Ward Many women orient themselves away from heterosexuality because it has been far less satisfying than they anticipated no one in an oppressively homophobic culture would ever engage in homosexual relationships unless they were born gay oppressively homophobic culture people have long risked death to fulfill desires that are rooted in the social People have risked death - and have died - for the freedom to vote or express their religious beliefs Social InQueery sparrows and sandcastles blog by Chew Hongjie Sparrows and Sandcastles Blog by Zhou Hongjie the human impulse toward self-determination and sexual gratification is very powerful Zhou Hongjie Zhou Hongjie Blog
  by Jane Ward   I wrote this post a while back and had I known how many people would read it and how many excellent questions and comments I’d continue to receive, I would have addressed the subject more exhaustively.  And yet, the fact that...

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