The Vanguard was on blogging hiatus the past week or so while Katie and I visited the Big Apple and Washington D.C.

My best man, Robert Berger, who now lives in Long Island, showed us all around and took us into “the city”, where we attended Mass at Father Richard John Neuhaus‘ parish (he celebrated and gave an excellent homily), visited my brother-in-law and his wife, checked out Times Square, St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and the Rockefeller plaza (we were surprised at how small the ice skating rink was).

Upon our arrival in Baltimore, we got to meet Tom and his lovely family from the Ecumenicity blog!  We had a good chat and then made our way into D.C.  Our friends there took us to see the White House and Lincoln Memorial, which was really cool.

The vacation was wonderful, due especially to our great hosts Robert and Laura y Jorge!

He is still in the race and first in many upcoming states.  Despite what the media is currently saying, it is not just a two-person Republican race.

You can see what he stands for on his website.

Of the three top Republicans, I believe he has the most correct principles and is the firmest on them.

…and met our Lord Jesus Christ.  May He have mercy on his soul and grant him eternal life in Heaven.

May God bless him and rest his soul; he requested a Catholic burial.  Why?  We can only guess, but it is hopeful that he turned to Christ ere the end of his life!

It is always wrong to use another person as an object for your own enjoyment.

A ubiquitous example of this immoral practice is when a man lusts after a woman; however, I think it also occurs everyday when we make famous persons into objects for our own entertainment.

I don’t keep up with much Hollywood news, but it’s hard not to hear of the sad antics of Britney Spears, which are plastered on the front page of just about every mainstream news site I go to.

The media “gives the people what they want”, so it is us who are really to blame for feeding the flames that burn famous persons like Ms. Spears.  That is not to say that they are not without responsibility for their actions; they are responsible for them, but when a person is only ever treated as an object by other people, is it any wonder when they react in a negative way, often leading to their own destruction?

Photographers hound Ms. Spears to take pictures of her, delighting in catching her looking disheveled; the media tracks her every “breakdown”, court appearance, and cigarette, gossiping gleefully over every misstep and problem.  In short, they make her into an object for their own and their consumers’ entertainment.

The result is that instead of seeing Ms. Spears as a young woman, a mother, who needs a lot of grace and love to help her become the woman God made her to be, she is seen as an object, and therefore a mere thing that exists for our pleasure and amusement.

One of the insidious consequences of this pervasive sin is that we as people become accustomed to using others as objects, which degrades how we view people in general, how we love our family and friends, and our growth in virtue.

If there is a call to action from this post, it would be to stop buying those magazines that make their money from Ms. Spears’ and others’ misfortune or scandal, to stop reading articles on websites that are objectifying famous people, and to pray for them whenever you catch some headline blaring their latest escapade.

Hot on the heels of the national March for Life, Texas is having our annual Rally for Life this Saturday!

From Texas Alliance for Life:

The speakers will include Dr. Alveda King, niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Most Reverend Gregory Aymond, Bishop of the Diocese of Austin, State Representative Nathan Macias, and  other speakers to be announced. Music will be provided by the African American Mass Choir from Houston. For more information, visit:

The Rally will be broadcast live online by The Word, (www.KLGO.net). To listen click here:  .

A great story of a virtuous young man who has auditioned for American Idol (from Bastrop, Texas, too, unless “Bostrop” is really a town) and joyfully proclaims that he is saving not only the marital embrace, but also even his first kiss, for his wife on their wedding day.

A very confused writer for a company that makes money from lust and unchastity commented on his decision to be chaste in a very telling way:

”These kids become sex objects, thrust into the spotlight,” she continued. “And while I know they’re all trying to stand out, especially during the audition period, using your Christian beliefs and the fact that you’ve never kissed a girl is not going to bode well for you while trying out to be America’s next big sex object,” Preston said.

She also said that “being in tune with one’s own sexuality goes a long way in being confident with yourself.”

If she only knew!

Mr. Dickson is being “in tune” with his own sexuality, leading to true confidence and peace that only comes from living a virtuous life in line with Christ and how He made us as men and women to love and give ourselves to one another, and never to lust and use one another as objects.

Yet, what does she reveal?  Twice she says that people are sex objects and are trying to become sex objects.  That is the way she understands sexuality, believing the lie of our culture that lusting after one another and using each other as objects is what fulfills us.

It’s been 35 years of war on our soil.  35 years of praying, begging, pleading for the lives of the little ones hidden in the womb who can’t speak for themselves.  35 years of wiping the tears of mothers and fathers whose arms are empty of the children who might have been.  47 million Americans who might have lived.  Our best friends and spouses and sisters.

Dear God, have mercy.  Heal us.  Save us from our sin.  And, please, when history condemns our culture of death in the years to come, let those who march today and those who pray from home be remembered as heroes.

Broadcasting live via EWTN live TV.

Gerardo and Roxanna are there, along with Earthie from the Little Wretches of St. Joseph, Thomas from AmericanPapist, and many others!

That’s a question that is so important to know the answer to, and there are competing theories.

What did Martin Luther King, Jr. think about it? Well, he agreed with St. Thomas Aquinas and quoted that great saint and philosopher when speaking about laws:

How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.

From veteran journalist Sheila Liaugminas’ blog.

I’ve been having conversations with my coworkers about this very topic, and we do not all agree on this, so all the better to have wise, faithful men like Martin Luther King, Jr., and St. Thomas Aquinas on your side!