Dependencies and Companion Plants. Creation Explains Relationships

Garlic is a companion plant for roses,
and carrots love tomatoes.

Evolution must be a great theory, because the evolution establishment refuses to let Creation be taught in any tax-payer supported institution. They have concluded, against the evidence, that global warming is a terrifying threat, and contrary evidence (with data supplied) is also banned. Many scientists reject global warming as fraud, but the dominant opinion continues to fool people.

I would never want to argue Creation from the facts or logic. That does not make me anti-factual or illogical. Creation is a mystery, just as evolution is. The difference is clear - the Word of God teaches Creation and the Spirit confirms this mystery to be God's truth. Believers realize this, but unbelievers scoff at such a notion, as they must, because they are blind to the Word of God.

The basics of Creation can be observed.

Gardeners have found that in soil, just as in business and marriages, opposites make the best companions. Andy Rooney made a list of people who always arrive early at the airport, always fill the icecube trays, and always replace the TP, versus the opposites. That includes balancing the checkbook and other behaviors. Some men are As and some are Bs. The same is true of women, some being As, others Bs. And As always marry Bs.

Kevin Leman did the same with birth order, which explains this behavior. First-born children are perfections, driven, neatniks, and often highly critical. The baby of the family is lovable, fun, and the least likely to earn straight As. Middle children are normal.

First-born children tend to marry the baby of the family or the middle child. People seldom marry the same birth order.

In business. opposite personalities make great partners, but they often do not work in harmony and split up.

Creation explains that God has built mutual dependencies into every aspect of life. They are not so surprising in marriage and in business when they are so common in nature.

Garlic is a stinky bulb. Leave some in a hot car, as I did once, if you want to find out how stinky. They are just the opposite of roses, yet they are so good for roses that rosarians routinely plant them around their favorite flowers.

But garlic does not do so well with onions. Why? They are the same family.

The same family will trade diseases all too easily. Tobacco mulch on tomato plants caused wilt - common to both nightshades.

Opposites strengthen each other. The deep growing tap-rooted dandelion herb does very well in shallow-rooted grass. Likewise, dandelion plots - grown for wine - are invaded by grass. They love their opposites. Scott's Lawn and Garden is grateful - America will never eradicate the dandelion from lawns.

Carrots are a root crop that gets along well with tomatoes, a berry crop. Gardeners study companion planting and make sure they do not have an incestuous plot, with all the kissing cousins planted together.

We take symbiotic relationships for granted in nature. Large animals tolerate birds that pluck insects from their tender hides, or morsels from their teeth. Didn't we first learn about lichens and mosses, which hardly spend time thinking about the meaning of life.

Science classes present symbiotic relationships in pairs, but everything in Creation is wrapped up together.

The rain is coming tonight, which illustrates how well that works. Gardeners love the rain, because their work is leveraged and fulfilled by rain.

Somewhat good chart - but where are the earthworms?

This is a brief summary of rain and how it affects the garden:

1. The rain provides moisture, but also usable nitrogen compounds that green up the lawn instantly and give life to the plants.
2. Rain will run off the soil and carry large amounts away, unless the soil is porous but also good at storing moisture.
3. Rain, rot, and soil creature support one another. 
4. Decomposition requires moisture, and soil creatures speed it up through a complex set of relationships where everything is eaten by creatures who are also eaten, until the mix is filled with tunnels for rainwater, earthworm castings, and humus. 
5. Rain builds up the soil population, and the soil creatures hold the rain in the soil.
6. When rain penetrates the soil better, plants thrive and send their roots deeper, which softens the soil and brings minerals up from the lower levels.
7. The build-up of organic matter (humus) means the soil holds more moisture for a longer period of time and has better structure.
8. When the soil teems with life, birds are attracted to the food supply and eat a lot of the destructive insects.

Classic Ichabod - UOJ in Karl Barth, Fuller Seminary's Favorite Theologue

Charlotte Kirschbaum was the Commie babe who bedded Barth in his own home, moving in shamelessly. Many Barthians claim she was a major contributor to the gaseous Church Dogmatics that Barth claimed as his own. Note the Church Growth parallels with adultery, apostasy, and plagiarism.

Karth Barth was so cute in his Swiss Army uniform - I had to post this photo for laughs. It looks like a scene from Laugh In.

My friend from Yale explored Barth's love for Marxism and his known affinities with the red cause. Barth-Kirschbaum is the official theologian for Fuller Seminary, where most of the leaders of WELS, Missouri, the ELS, and ELCA have attended.

Here ve haff da luffly Barth family, Karl mit Charlotte, und Kinder, und Frau Barth way over on da outside right. Das machen me schniffle ein bischen. Zo touching und varm. Der kleine Hans hat two mommies - eine Hausfrau und eine va-va-voom Commie. [Translated into German to keep the caption G-rated. Mrs. I is laughing her head off.]

Carl Braaten, the son of missionaries, latched onto Leftist theologians, incorporating Barth-Kirschbaum and Tillich (another adulterer) into Lutheran theology. Barth's $1,000 set now sells for $99. Tillich is a has-been, known chiefly for his promiscuity and sadistic fetishes.

Note the catchy subtitle, which came from an orthodox Lutheran.
The UOJ dimwits use that phrase in all their essays attacking justification by faith.

Carl  Braaten, Justification, 1990:

We cannot hold a universalism of the unitarian kind. People are not too good to be damned. There is no necessity for God to save everybody nor to reject anyone. God is not bound by anything outside of himself. He is not bound to give the devil his due. If we take into account God's love, he would have all to be saved. If we reckon with his freedom, he has the power to save whomsoever he pleases. This does not lead to a dogmatic universalism. But it does mean that we leave open the possibility that within the power of God's freedom and love, all people may indeed be saved in the end. This follows as a possibility from the fact that God is free from all external factors in making up his mind. (p. 139)

...

Then Why Evangelize? (heading, Braaten, p. 140)

...

Barth's doctrine is radically objective. [Bratten now quotes Barth-Kirschbaum verbatim.]

There is not one for whose sin and death he did not die, whose sin and death he did not remove and obliterate on the cross...There is not one who is not adequately and perfectly and finally justified in Him. There is not one whose sin is not forgiven sin in Him, whose death is not a death which has been put to death in Him...There is not one for whom he has not done everything in His death and received everything in His resurrection from the dead. (Barth, Church Dogmatics, IV, 1, 638)

In the face of literally hundreds of such beautiful passages, evangelicals understandably ask, Then what is the point of evangelism? If the heathen are already saved in Christ, and nothing more needs to be added, then where is the urgency in world evangelization? (Braaten, p. 140)


Universalism-Denying
The parallels with WELS, Jon Buchholz, Jay Webber, and Don Patterson are obvious. They deny they are Universalists while confessing the basics of Universalism. Texas WELS even featured an essay where someone read from the Universalist creed and said, "See - we are not Univesalists." The truth hurts.

The language is borrowed the Halle's Knapp, because Halle was pivotal in the transition from a Biblical Pietistic school to a Rationalistic university.

Earlier, Samuel Huber taught the same way, but the Wittenberg theologians crushed him like a bug. The same kind of Enthusiasm came back via Pietism, since that movement was allergic to orthodox confessions but overly fond of unionism. Spener was the first union theologian, but not the last.

UOJ makes anything possible (except rejection of UOJ). Take money from unrepentant adulterers? No problem? Plagiarize the false doctrine of Fuller Seminary? That is spoiling the Egyptians. Engage in child porn file swapping? You are forgiven because you are sorry you got caught again.

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From Wikipedia and George Hunsinger:

Relationship with Charlotte von Kirschbaum

When Barth first met Charlotte von Kirschbaum in 1924 he had already been married for 12 years to his wife, Nelly, with whom he had also had five children.^[14] In 1929, von Kirschbaum, with Barth's consent, moved into the Barth family household. This arrangement–described by one scholar as "convoluted, extremely painful for all concerned, yet not without integrity and joys"–lasted for 35 years.^[15]

A kind of household of three relationship developed between Barth, von Kirschbaum and Barth's wife, Nelly. The long-standing situation was not without its difficulties. "Lollo",^[16] as Barth called the 13-year-younger von Kirschbaum, once wrote to Barth's sister Gertrud Lindt in 1935, where she expressed her concern about the precarious situation:

"The alienation between Karl and Nelly has reached a degree which could hardly increase. This has certainly become accentuated by my existence."^[17]

The relationship caused great offence among many of Barth's friends, as well as his own mother.^[18] Barth's children suffered from the stress of the relationship.^[18] Barth and von Kirschbaum took semester break vacations together.^[18] While Nelly supplied the household and the children, von Kirschbaum and Barth shared an academic relationship. Barth has fallen victim to criticism for his relationship with Charlotte von Kirschbaum. One critic has written: "Part of any realistic response to the subject of Barth and von Kirschbaum must be anger."^[19] Hunsinger summarizes the influence of von Kirschbaum on Barth's work: "As his unique student, critic, researcher, adviser, collaborator, companion, assistant, spokesperson, and confidant, Charlotte von Kirschbaum was indispensable to him. He could not have been what he was, or have done what he did, without her."

1. ^ George Hunsinger's review of S. Seliger, Charlotte von Kirschbaum and Karl Barth: A Study in Biography and the History of Theology.
2. ^ Hunsinger
3. ^ Eberhard Busch, Karl Barths Lebenslauf, München: Kaiser, 177ff.
4. ^ Karl Barth: Gesamtausgabe, Teil V. Briefe. Karl Barth – Eduard Thurneysen: Briefwechsel Bd. 3, 1930–1935: einschließlich des Briefwechsels zwischen Charlotte von Kirschbaum und Eduard Thurneysen, eds. Caren Algner; Zürich: TVZ, Theologischer Verlag, 2000, p. 839.
5. ^ ^a b c Busch, Karl Barths Lebenslauf, 199 = Karl Barth: His Life from Letters and Autobiographical Texts (Fortress Press, 1976), 185-6.
6. ^ S. Seliger, Charlotte von Kirschbaum and Karl Barth; quoted in K. Sonderegger's review.

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http://www3.ptsem.edu/Content.aspx?id=1933&menu_id=72

	Hazel Thompson McCord Professor of Systematic Theology Department of Theology 102 Hodge Hall Phone: 609.252.2114 Fax: 609.497.7728 Email: george.hunsinger@ptsem.edu (Presbyterian)
Profile
George Hunsinger is Princeton Theological Seminary’s Hazel Thompson McCord Professor of Systematic Theology. He earned his B.D. from Harvard University Divinity School and his M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. from Yale University. He served as director of the Seminary’s Center for Barth Studies from 1997 to 2001. He has broad interests in the history and theology of the Reformed tradition and in “generous orthodoxy” as a way beyond the modern liberal/conservative impasse in theology and church. An ordained Presbyterian minister, he was a major contributor to the new Presbyterian catechism. He teaches courses on the doctrine of the Holy Spirit in the Reformed tradition, the theology of the Lord’s Supper, the theology of John Calvin, and classical and recent Reformed theology. He is the founder of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. --- http://www.theopedia.com/George_Hunsinger George Hunsinger is an ordained Presbyterian minister and theologian. He is currently the Hazel Thompson McCord Professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary in Princeton, NJ. Hunsinger was the director of the Center for Barth Studies at Princeton from 1997 - 2001. Hunsinger received a BD from Harvard University Divinity School and an MA, MPhil, and PhD from Yale University. His work has focused primarily on the theology of Karl Barth. Hunsinger was the recipient of the 2010 Karl Barth Prize and joins previous prize recipients Eberhard Jüngel, Hans Küng, John W. de Gruchy, Johannes Rau, Bruce McCormack, and others. Hunsinger has also been associated with the postliberal movement and is an authoritative interpreter of Hans Frei. He has a long history of anti-war and human rights activism and is also an open critic of the war in Iraq. Since 2003 he has been active in the Ecumenical movement through the Faith and Order commission and recently completed a book on The Eucharist and Ecumenism: Let Us Keep the Feast, published by Cambridge University Press in 2008. --- http://libweb.ptsem.edu/collections/barth/reviews/CharlotteKirschbaum.aspx?menu=296&subText=468&disclaimer=668 Charlotte von Kirschbaum and Karl Barth: A Study in Biography and the History of Theology Suzanne Selinger, Charlotte von Kirschbaum and Karl Barth: A Study in Biography and the History of Theology (University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 1998), viii + 206pp. $29.00 Reviewed by: George Hunsinger When Charlotte von Kirschbaum first heard Karl Barth lecture in 1924, she was 24 years old, financially almost destitute, and in poor health. Deeply religious and a voracious reader with a keen interest in theology, she had already devoured Barth's 1919 Römerbrief, at the recommendation of her pastor, shortly after it had appeared, and then avidly kept up with Barth's work through the journal Zwischen den Zeiten. At a time when only a tiny fraction of the general population, virtually all male, went on for a university education, she had been trained for a career as a Krankenschwester or Protestant nurse. It was George Merz, her pastor, who first recognized her intellectual gifts. After guiding her through confirmation in the Lutheran church, Merz included her in the intellectual circle he had gathered around him in Munich, which included Thomas Mann. It was also Merz, by then editor of Zwischen den Zeiten and godfather to one of Barth's children, who had taken her with him to that lecture, and who introduced her to Barth afterwards. Barth invited them both for a visit to his summer retreat, the Bergli, in the mountains overlooking Lake Zurich. Merz and von Kirschbaum went to the Bergli that summer and returned the next. Von Kirschbaum made a very good impression. She was drawn into the circle of theological friends who spent their summers at the chalet. Pastor Eduard Thurneysen, Barth's closest friend, and Gerty Pestalozzi, owner with her husband of the Bergli, took an interest in furthering her education. (Becoming a Krankenschwester had required no special academic training or higher degrees.) Ruedi Pestalozzi, Gerty's husband and a wealthy businessman, paid for her to receive secretarial training, after which she became a welfare officer at Siemans, a large electronics firm in Nuremburg. In October 1925 Barth switched university teaching appointments from Göttingen to Münster. His wife and family remained behind until a suitable residence could be found. In February 1926 von Kirschbaum visited Barth for a month in Münster, shortly before his family was to join him, but while he was still living alone. Barth's situation at this time is worth noting. He was 39 years old, had been married to Nelly (then aged 32) for nearly 13 years, and had five young children. The marriage, not a particularly happy one, had by his own account left him feeling resigned to loneliness. After his parents had prevented him in 1910 from marrying Rösy Münger, whom he deeply loved and never forgot -- and who died in 1925 -- he had submitted in 1911 to an engagement and then in 1913 to a marriage, with Nelly, that had in essence been arranged by his mother. (Barth always carried a photograph of Rösy with him for the rest of his life, sometimes wept when looking at it, and would continue over the years to visit her grave.) Although we do not know exactly what happened between Barth and Charlotte von Kirschbaum in that fateful encounter of 1926, we do know that from that point on they were in love with each other, that Barth immediately gave her manuscript after manuscript for advice and correction, and that she committed herself henceforth to doing everything she possibly could to advance his theological work. After spending a sabbatical at the Bergli in the summer term of 1929, with von Kirschbaum at his side as his aide, Barth announced in October that she would be moving into the family household to be a member of it. This arrangement -- convoluted, extremely painful for all concerned, yet not without integrity and joys -- lasted for nearly 35 years until 1964 when von Kirschbaum had to be admitted to a nursing home with Alzheimer's disease. These were exactly the years of Barth's most productive intellectual life. As his unique student, critic, researcher, advisor, collaborator, companion, assistant, spokesperson, and confidant, Charlotte von Kirschbaum was indispensable to him. He could not have been what he was, or have done what he did, without her. The reverse would also seem to have been true. Von Kirschbaum was a strong, noble and unconventional woman who made her own choices and willingly bore their great costs. The costs of the arrangement with Barth were many, not least a total rejection by most of her own family, and a thousand constant humiliations from church, society, and the larger Barth clan (not excluding Barth's mother, who eventually tempered her harsh disapproval). Many real exits opened up along the way (such as a proposal of marriage from the philosopher Heinrich Scholz), but she never took any of them. What she once wrote in particular to a friend would seem to hold true of her whole life: "It is very clear to me that Karl had to act in this way, and that comforts me whatever the consequences." From her first encounter with his theology in her youth to the very end of her life, she felt gripped by a sense of the greatness of Barth's contribution, an excitement that she once described simply with the words, "This is it!" During one of Barth's last visits to her in the nursing home, she said, "We had some good times together, didn't we?" We may well wonder also where Nelly Barth was in the midst of all this. There is undoubtedly much we will never know. But we do know that in her own way she never ceased to believe in her husband and his work. We know that the two of them experienced a reconciliation after Charlotte departed the household, that she and Karl both visited her at the nursing home on Sundays, that she continued those visits after Karl died in 1968, and that when Charlotte herself died in 1975, Nelly honored Karl's wishes by having Charlotte buried in the Barth family grave. Nelly herself died in 1976. Visitors to the Basel Hörnli cemetery today can see the names of all three together engraved one by one on the same stone. The book by Suzanne Selinger is not the first to cover this territory, nor will it be the last. As a study in the history of theology, it succeeds reasonably well. The sections on how Barth and von Kirschbaum respectively viewed male/female relationships as bearing the image of God are interesting and worth reading. As a biographical study, however, the book seems less successful. The author seethes with so much resentment toward Karl Barth that as I closed the book I had an image of him as St. Sebastian. At the level of adjectives, he takes a lot of hits. Unfortunately, Charlotte von Kirschbaum fares little better. The author unwittingly undermines her purposes of sympathy and compassion -- unless one can persuade oneself that it is not demeaning to scorn the life that Charlotte von Kirschbaum actually chose for herself and openly affirmed, as opposed to one that could not have been and never was. --- http://www.psupress.org/books/titles/0-271-01824-0.html --- http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/1465536?uid=3739536&uid=2129&uid=2&uid=70&uid=4&uid=3739256&sid=47698978832417

Roses Trump Dandelions Every Time. The Creator Endowed Roses with the DNA Library We Use for Hybrid Roses

I planted roses in Columbus the same year it rained every day, well into June. As a result, I was cutting hybrid tea roses every day. Children lived on our court, and they were fascinated by the flowers. I cut roses for them to give to their mothers, as long as they properly identified the rose. Soon I had them asking for Fragrant Cloud and Oregold roses, instead of just pointing. They had their favorites, and their mothers loved getting roses rather than a handful of dandelions.

I look through catalogs and websites to pick flowers, but my dominant choice is always going to be roses. They are easy to grow and cut, and everyone likes them the most. We can be thankful that the perpetual rose was combined with the tea rose to give us long-stemmed roses that bloom all summer.

Would you rather get a dozen crepe myrtle blooms or a dozen roses?

The crepe myrtle bush loves sun and grows 12 feet tall, more
when allowed. The flowers are showy during that
blooming season. 

Planning for roses is easy. They should be grown where they get plenty of sun without roasting. I always wanted a rose garden on the eastern side of the house, which happens to be our front yard. Once the maple tree was pruned, we had plenty of sun until late afternoon. We can enjoy the roses from the porch and neighbors can walk by and see them as well.

Roses need their own garden. The only competition should be a garlic-family plant or - in some cases - miniature roses. I never invested much in miniature roses, because they cost as much as full-sized roses and yield tiny flowers.

I have some 12 inch tall sunflowers planted in the rose garden for now. Mrs. I feared I was planting Russian striped mammoth, ugly, overhanging, shading everything sunflowers. But no - these grow up 12 inches and bloom. I promised to cut them away if they detracted from the roses.

Next year I will spread garlic chives among the roses. They will yield potent grassy plants that spread and protect the roses from insects and disease. Roses love garlic, and garlic chives will spread through their roots.

Queen Elizabeth roses are taller and have the ultimate bud
that opens up into a stunning flower, a royal rose indeed.

The best covering for a rose garden is wood mulch. I combined these elements for rose growth:

• Two shipments from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm were spread around the yard, plenty for the roses. 
• I planted with Miracle Gro "soil" which was treated with slow release fertilizer.
• Our helper assisted me in covering the entire lawn area with newspapers.
• We covered the newspapers with bags of  black-dyed wood mulch.
• I snaked  black soaker hose across the rose garden.
• I added four solar lights, three above,  and a string of solar faerie lights.

We simply dug holes in the law for the new bare root roses, which were on sale for $8 each. I filled the holes with soil and Miracle Gro soil and watered each rose heavily for days.

The newspapers and mulch came next, then the lights and soaker hose.

I added eight more roses from the local nursery, so we had a brilliant burst of color before the hybrid tea roses began to bloom.

Underneath the mulch and newspapers the grass began to rot, making perfect high-nitrogen compost for the roses. Earthworms from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm were everywhere, the best diggers known as red wigglers. I could tell we were getting plenty of underground action. The birds had a party disturbing the mulch for food, sometimes pecking down through the newspaper layer. I still find big pieces of mulch thrown from the garden, probably from the search for food.

"Sure I played with the newspaper  mulch in the backyard, and tore it to pieces.
You can't possibly be upset over something that was so much fun."

Don't blame Sassy. She plays in the backyard, but supervises in the front yard.

We had plenty of rain as the rose garden was starting out. Now we are in the dry part of the season. The soaker hose is good for using a little bit of water to keep the whole rose garden hydrated. How can I tell? I push my finger into the soil on the margin and check for dampness.

If the nappies are wet, 

the roses are set.

The work of tending roses is the most fun. I cut off all dead wood and remove the blooming roses. See John 15:1-10 for the same thing done with grapevines. The roses go on the altar and are shared with friends. Our helper and his wife love to get them.

I understand that all colored roses come from the Persian yellow rose. Before that, all roses were yellow.

People talk glibly about hybrid roses, about the thousands of trials started to bring one new rose to market. They seldom mention that all the DNA information for those roses was imparted in the rose from the Day of Creation.

The Olympiad red rose was waiting to be discovered from the beginning of time. The hybrid teas that have great aroma were there, but not yet evident.

Double Delight - all the beauty of a bi-color rose,
plus perfume, ready to be discovered from the moment
God created roses.
"All things were made through Him, and nothing was made apart from Him." John 1

Victim to Pope - Stop Apologizing and Start Removing the Predators

Destroying the evidence and denying the facts is
standard procedure for the ELS, WELS, and LCMS.
It worked for their founders, Bishop Stephan, STD, and CFW Walther - his enforcer and go-fer.
Top Ten WELS Crimes.

Sex-Abuse Victims to Pope: Stop Begging for Forgiveness and Just Stop the Abuse

Francis met with rape victims Monday and begged for their forgiveness. The head of the world’s largest survivor network has 15 better ways for him to act.

ROME, Italy — On Monday, Pope Francis followed the footsteps of his predecessors Benedict XVI and John Paul II and met with a select group of men and women who had been raped, molested and lied to by their parish priests. 

Francis spent around half an hour individually with each of the victims— a man and a woman each from Ireland, Germany, and England—whose names and ages were not disclosed.  Prior to the one-on-one meetings, Francis presided over a Mass with the victims and members of the Papal Commission for the Protection of Children, led by Boston cardinal Sean O’Malley in which he apologized to the survivors for the “grave sins of clerical sexual abuse” committed against them.

“I beg your forgiveness, too, for the sins of omission on the part of Church leaders who did not respond adequately to reports of abuse made by family members, as well as by abuse victims themselves,” Francis said at the special mass according to the homily transcript released by the Holy See. “This led to even greater suffering on the part of those who were abused and it endangered other minors who were at risk.”

After the Mass and meetings, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi briefed the press, explaining that while the content of each individual meeting should be kept private in accordance with the norms of pastor to parishioner confidentiality, one can be assured “they were profoundly emotional.”  At times laughing nervously as he explained that he knew not what was said but that it was of utmost importance, Lombardi then went on to counter criticism from the clerical sex abuse victims’ groups that warned that the meet and greet was nothing more than a public relations stunt.  “This body of opinion has always demonstrated its unwillingness to understand the pope’s actions,” he told reporters.  “I’m not surprised by the reaction, but it is totally clear that it was not a public relations event. It was a profound spiritual encounter.”

Barbara Blaine, outreach director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests or SNAP disagrees.  Even though SNAP, now 25 years old, is the most widely recognized global support group for clerical victims with more than 18,000 members, no one from their leadership was invited to meet with Francis.

Ahead of the meeting Blaine, who was raped by her parish priest as a teenager, posed a number of topics she would like to discuss with Francis, if only she were given a chance.  First, she says she would like to tell the pope, “Stop talking about the crisis as though it’s past tense, and stop delaying while your abuse panels discusses details. You know the right thing to do. You don’t need a report.”

“Wounded adults can heal themselves but vulnerable kids can't protect themselves.”

She said she would also tell the pope to focus first on prevention, instead of forgiveness.  “Wounded adults can heal themselves but vulnerable kids can’t protect themselves,” she says, noting that abuse and sex abuse and the consistent cover up by the Vatican is still ongoing.  She also suggests that the Holy See take “tangible steps to safeguard those at risk” by doing a number of what would seem like fairly simple steps, that are acceptable responses in the secular community when it comes to battling pedophilia, sex abuse, and child rape.

SNAP’s demands include:

1. Order bishops to set up and finance a “whistleblower fund” to reward church staff whose actions lead to criminal charges or conviction of current or former abusive clerics.

2. Insist that bishops permanently post the names, photos and whereabouts of proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting clerics (including religious order priests) on diocesan and parish websites.

3. Demand that bishops hire independent corrections staff rather than clergy to house and monitor child molesting clerics who cannot be criminally charged because of statutes of limitation in remote, secure facilities so they will be kept away from children.

4. Instruct bishops to use only licensed therapists (not priests or nuns) to deal with abuse victims.

5. Tell bishops to use only former police (not clerics) to investigate abuse cases that cannot be pursued by law enforcement.

6. Convene and fund a world-wide conference of secular lawmakers who work to reform archaic, arbitrary, and predator-friendly secular laws (like the statute of limitations) that prevent victims from exposing those who commit and conceal sex offenses through civil and criminal courts.

7. Make an urgent, strong public plea to all church employees and members, begging them to give information and suspicions about fugitive predator priests to civil authorities so the clerics may be prosecuted and kept away from children.

8. Order bishops to avoid using language that minimizes clergy abuse like “it’s just a small percentage of priests” or deflects blame like “abuse happens in other settings too” or faults accusers like “these allegations are from 25 years ago” or mollifies church-goers like “he’s not accused of molesting at this parish” or praises accused wrongdoers like “he’s a very popular priest” or guilt-trips victims  like “he has tirelessly worked to help the poor”.

9. Turn over Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith or CDF records about predatory priests to local law enforcement in the nations where the alleged crimes took place and insist that the head of each diocese and religious order do likewise with their abuse records.

10. Mandate church-based sessions to teach parishioners how to respond appropriately in abuse cases so victims, witnesses and whistleblowers won’t feel intimidated or hopeless.

11. Insist that priests immediately give their passports to their bishops when abuse accusations arise so they can’t flee overseas.

12. Demote and denounce at least a dozen complicit bishops, including Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City Missouri, the only sitting bishop who has been criminally convicted of refusing to report suspected child sex crimes.

13. Discourage current and future cover ups by clearly, publicly punishing prelates (like Cardinal Roger Mahony and others) who are concealing or have concealed child sex crimes.

14. Stop rebuffing secular officials and start letting Polish and Dominican Republic law enforcement officials arrest and prosecute Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski (a credibly accused child molesting cleric), instead of having Catholic officials investigate other Catholic officials.

Finally, Blaine says she would tell Francis that there is only one criteria that matters as he moves forward with his commission to protect minors: “Will this move actually protect kids by exposing and punishing clerics who commit and conceal child sex crimes?” If not, she says, “Then it doesn’t matter if it’s more or less than other officials or institutions have done or are doing. It doesn’t matter much if it gets great headlines. It doesn’t really matter if it makes adults feel better for a little bit. If it’s not preventing abuse, it’s probably meaningless or almost meaningless.”

First, WELS invited a well known sexual predator,
Archbishop R. Weakland, to lead a series of lectures,
then WELS denied it happened.

Leslye Will Take You to Court and Refuse To Drop Her Lawsuit - To Protect Glende and Ski

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Attorney Rick Techlin described the astonishing behavior of Leslye, Glende, Ski, and another
St. Peter Freedom (WELS) member when a husband told the truth about the illegal behavior of the staff.

The judge dismissed Time Glende's pathetic, whimpering, whining case, but the other three (including Leslye) held out to cause more trouble.

WELS wives - do not bother going to a WELS pastor, circuit pastor, or the District Pope. They will reward the abuser and abuse the victim.

It is called cult behavior. See the biopic on Warren Jeffs for additional details.

The Midland Library Taught Me about Gardening

The Red Bridge at Dow Gardens

Midland, Michigan is headquarters for Dow Chemical and Dow Corning, so the city also boasts Dow Gardens, Grace Dow Library, and Dow High School.

The library had an excellent selection of gardening books when I lived there, and the children's library was just as good. I found the children's books often covered the basics I needed to know, or they supplemented the facts by offering material not usually found in the main gardening books - the big questions.

Dow had a large agricultural chemical division, but I avoided chemicals for one reason - cost. I was going to buy some things for my first serious garden - Wormhaven I - when I went to the store. The prices shocked me because I knew those boxes and bags contained only a few pennies worth of basic chemical fertilizer. The church members had interesting stories about work at Dow and the markup on chemical prices.

My mother was an insect expert, so I also realized that pesticides were not a good answer - and they cost plenty too.

I read every organic gardening book I could find, subscribed to the Rodale books, and read about the basics of Creation. Organic gardening is as old as the ancient Egyptians, who made killing an earthworm a crime, and used the flooding of the Nile to make Egypt the breadbasket of the region.

Note this new story on Egyptians and earthworms.

The new version of organic gardened developed from composting in India (the Indore method) when Sir Albert Howard worked on ways to improve the soil without a lot of modern machinery too expensive for the average farm.

Here is another link on Indore composting - too much work! When I read such terms as "double digging" and building boxes to store various materials, I think of ways around those ideas.

For example, once I set up a shelter for small animals in the winter - New Ulm, Minnesota. I made a pile of evergreens on top of the lawn, fashioned into an igloo for the fortunate. The ingrates did not use the shelter, but the evergreens killed off the grass during the winter and spring. I found the soil was very soft and easily shoveled in that area. Double-digging? What about using the sod to compost itself on the spot.

I also put a layer of compost on top of a tough, clay area in the Midland yard. The result was easily dug soil, after the earthworms pulled the compost down.

There are worse examples of back-breaking labor, such as trenching. Nostalgic for WWI, these gardeners dig deep trenches and fill them with organic matter for their future gardens. Digging a pit or trench is a great education on volume, on the exponential weight of soil when a third dimension is added.

• If a 10 by 6 foot garden area is dug down to 4 feet - 240 cubic feet of soil.
• Expanded by one foot in each dimension - 385 cubic feet of soil.
• If... - don't even ask.

Here are some aphorisms that all gardeners accept:

1. Nitrogen compounds are good for growth.
2. Soil teeming with bacteria will be productive.
3. Looser soil is better than packed down soil, because roots grow between soil particle.
4. Rain is better for plants than watering from the hose.
5. The best soil is on top and often blows away in the wind.
6. Insects love weak plants but do little damage to healthy growth.
7. Earthworm castings are the best for all plants, but the little guys produce only a little bit each day.
8. Nobody likes to weed.
9. Everyone loves birds.

One simple method satisfies all these aphorisms at the same time - with relatively little work.

Mulching provides a bacterial base for the earthworms to feast upon. The liveliest soil is a woodsy soil, so wood mulch is handy, easy to place, and inexpensive.

Since earthworms thrive on bacteria and produce usable nitrogen compounds, they enhance the nitrogen levels of the soil.

Earthworms and other soil creatures loosen the soil by pulling down the debris left on top.

Mulch holds the rainwater in place, absorbing it like a sponge, and decreasing the waste of rapid evaporation.

Mulch also holds down the top soil, preventing wind erosion and forming new soil from the worm castings and general decomposition.

Composting and mulching will produce healthy plants, which fend off insect predation by hosting beneficial insects and growing past the damage.

The total weight of earthworms in the yard will equal the total of castings per day. No one could afford to buy all those castings from a gardening supply house. Earthworms do their work in exchange for good working conditions, adequate moisture, and plenty to eat.

Using mulch to produce compost - or using compost as mulch - will reduce weeding to a pleasant byproduct of gardening.

A productive yard will necessarily be one filled with birds. They will feast on insects, bathe in the water supplies, and sing Matins and Vespers each day. Increasing the organic compounds will multiply the birds by giving them a diverse and abundant supply of food and shelter.

God's Creation reminds us of how He cares for all His creatures, because He cares even more for us. As Luther said about the Parable of the Lost Sheep, Jesus is just as anxious for us as we are for Him.