R.A.G.E. Media

Due to increased spam and security vulnerabilities on PickAFig, the site has just been updated.

Unfortunately, a lot of cosmetic changes have been made. While we re-construct the visual appearance of the site, please continue to utilize the site and email any bugs to sales@dyinglight.com.

For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ Then
” ‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
and to the hills, “Cover us!” ‘ For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”
-Luke 23:29-31

I shudder to think what will now happen after 30 years of relative prosperity with the preaching that women are blessed not for having children, but careers - now that careers and wealth are being washed away.

I often wondered just what he meant by saying that the people will ask the hills to cover them and the mountains to fall on them - it is a reference to Hosea 10. Follow the links in the passage below to see how it relates to today.

1 Israel was a spreading vine;
he brought forth fruit for himself.
As his fruit increased,
he built more altars;
as his land prospered,
he adorned his sacred stones.

8 The high places of wickedness will be destroyed—
it is the sin of Israel.
Thorns and thistles will grow up
and cover their altars.
Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
and to the hills, “Fall on us!”

Looking to make a little more money this season off your Catholic website or blog? The Digital Catholic Library, a collection of 35 classic Catholic texts with reprint rights, can now be sold by you on your site, and earn you 50% of the sale, or roughly $15.

The collection includes the entire Summa Theologica, 5 books by G.K. Chesterton, The Imitation of Christ, The Confessions of Augustine, Story of a Soul, and the Little Flowers of St. Francis - just to name a few. Full details, including the complete contents and a video, can be found at www.DigitalCatholicLibrary.com.

I’ve not yet come across an affiliate program for Catholics that pays out so much for such a great value. And in these times of economic hardship and uncertainty, we can all use something that helps us take care of our families while proclaiming the gospel!

More information on the affiliate program can be found on our affiliate page.

Aquinas and More Catholic Books, the Internet’s largest Catholic bookstore, has added PickAFig voting buttons to many of the items in their store.

PickAFig users and Aquinas and More customers can now recommend books and products to others with ease, as I have done with this recommendation of Christopher West’s Theology of the Body for Beginners.

When “picking” a product, be sure to take the time to write why you recommend that particular product or book.

If you happen upon a product that you like that has already been “picked” you can simply add your vote!

Books and products can be posted in PickAFig to either the category the product belongs or to the “Books and Products” category.

“…and you shall be like God…”
-Genesis 3:5

There was only one actor in that ancient drama [Eden] who seems to have had any real talent of salesmanship. He seems to have undertaken to deliver the goods with exactly the right preliminaries of promise and praise… He not only took up the slogan of Eat More Fruit, but he distinctly declared that any customer purchasing his particular brand of fruit would instantly become as gods. And as this is exactly what is promised to purchasers of every patent medicine, popular tonic, saline draught or medicinal wine at the present day, there can be no question that he was in advance of his age. It is extraordinary that humanity, which began with an apple and ended with the patent medicine, has not even yet become exactly like gods. It is still more extraordinary…that the record ends with some extraordinary remarks to the effect that one thus pursing the bright career of Salesmanship is condemned to crawl on his stomach and eat a great deal of dirt.

-G.K. Chesterton, in G.K.’s Weekly, March 23 1929

Might I humbly add, these same promises are made to women in regards to birth control, and the side effects on the packaging are even dire. Oddly enough, both theological and pharmaceutical language refers to the chance of death as “mortality.”

Original Painting: Cranach’s Eve

If my movie reviews get any kind of notoriety, it will be because they are late. This review of Speed Racer, coming 2 weeks after the video release, is actually early for me. We watch movies most new movies when they reach our price point: free. In most cases, this means waiting 4-8 weeks for the library’s copy to reach us after working its way down a waiting list of as many as 100 other patrons.

I’ve never seen the Speed Racer cartoons as a kid. In fact, when I first heard of the movie I was more intrigued by the writing/directing team of the Wachowski brothers. A kid’s movie to be done by the creators of The Matrix and V for Vendetta? The thought made me shudder.

But when the chance came to see it on DVD for free, I snapped it up to see just how bad it would be. Keep in mind, I appreciate the Wachowski’s cinematography and writing, I just could not fathom what they would do to a children’s cartoon.

In a nutshell, it blew me away. Sure, multiple plot twists, CG special effects, more action than the eye could actually take in - that was all expected and delivered spectacularly. What shocked and surprised me was the family values that were expressed.

Without giving away too much of the plot, there is one scene that particularly expresses ideals and an example I have long ceased to expect from Hollywood, and much less the Wachowskis. Pop Racer confronts his second son, Speed, as the young man is about to leave home - in exactly the same manner his brother Rex had 8 years earlier.

His father, who had exploded in rage at the eldest son’s departure, invites Speed to sit down with him before he leaves, and says:

Pops Racer:I went to Cortega because I was afraid what happened to Rex was gonna happen to you, and I couldn’t take that. But once we got there, I realized something. I didn’t lose Rex when he crashed, I lost him right here. I let him think a stupid motor company was more important to me than he was. You’ll never know how much I regret that mistake. It’s enough that I’ll never make it again. Speed, I know every child has to leave home. I just want you to know that that door is always open. You can always come back. ‘Cause I love you, son.
…
Pops Racer: I couldn’t have been more proud of you, son. Not because you won, but because you stood up, you weren’t afraid, and you did what you thought was right.
Speed: It didn’t amount to anything. It was completely meaningless.
Pops Racer: How could it be meaningless? I saw my son become a man. I watched a man with courage and integrity drive the pants off of every other driver on that road. This is not meaningless. This is the reason for a father’s life.
(Thanks to IMDB users for typing up the quotes)

The overarching theme of doing what is right, and the importance of family in a 21st century major motion picture was completely unexpected.

I should mention that there is still some language, rude gestures, and what they now refer to as “sci-fi violence” (Aka bloodless violence) in the film, so parents should still preview before showing it to the kids.

Thanks to Google Books’ new API, one can embed entries from Google Books into a web page. So I’ve done so with the preview of “The Way of the Christian Samurai” both on that website, specifically on the free preview page.

Religion, these days, has gotten quite a bad rap. Inquisition, conquistadors, terrorism - it is now taught that violence is the fault of God, or at least those who believe in God.

A product of such teaching, P.Z. Myers, a biology teacher at a Midwest university, has formed a cult following now infamous for their hatred for religion. And while I do not agree with him, I am grateful to P.Z. Myers for several things:

In desecrating Eucharistic Hosts and the Quar’an because he believes them worthless,
He has proven that ‘Holy Wars,’ defiling of sacred grounds and objects, and persecution of people based on one’s religion are not based on belief in God.

In fostering a vehement following who make violent threats against those he denounces,
He has proven that religious terrorism does not require belief in God.

In the repetitive babbling and regurgitating of the same insults, phrases, and words by his followers,
He has shown that no belief in God is necessary to form a cult.

By their sheltering of Myers, despite the above,
the University of Minnesota Morris has proven that even secular, state-funded, progressive schools can be theocracies in open support of terrorism.

In conclusion, I am grateful to P.Z. Myers for being just the sort of person that proves that it is not God, or belief in God, that makes men violent, contemptible, ignorant bigots, but religious fanaticism. For even his science-based, secular message is a body of beliefs shared by his followers - a religion in and of itself.

In other words, P.Z. Myers has exonerated God, and those who profess belief in him, of the very charges he makes against them.

Atheism is, I suppose, the supreme example of a simple faith. The man says there is no God; if he really says it in his heart, he is a certain sort of man so designated in Scripture. But, anyhow, when he has said it, he has said it; and there seems to be no more to be said. The conversation seems likely to languish.

The truth is that the atmosphere of excitement, by which the atheist lived, was an atmosphere of thrilled and shuddering theism, and not of atheism at all; it was an atmosphere of defiance and not of denial. Irreverence is a very servile parasite of reverence; and has starved with its starving lord. After this first fuss about the merely aesthetic effect of blasphemy, the whole thing vanishes into its own void. If there were not God, there would be no atheists.

-G.K. Chesterton, Where All Roads Lead

In that case, I am truly grateful for the example of P.Z. Myers.

May God bless him.

Being an Eagle Scout, former youth group member and (briefly) a private school student, I’ve done my share of fundraisers.

Popcorn, flowers, “gift items” (aka overpriced junk), and even fertilizer - I’ve had to sell a lot of unrelated stuff before to help the organizations I belonged to.

So I had an idea for Catholic organizations, churches and websites that are about to make an appeal or start a fundraising project - offer the Digital Catholic Library to friends and family!

We’re all going to be tightening our belts this year, and at the same time the clouds of darkness are making instructional tools for Catholics even more important. So this year, consider using a quality Catholic product for your fundraiser.

Your organization’s supporters will get 35 books including The Summa Theologica, Augustine’s Confessions, Orthodoxy, Story of A Soul, The Imitation of Christ, and more - a $400 value, according to Amazon prices - for only $30. Even in today’s frightening economic times, this is a great value.

And since I remember selling lots of items for little profit, your organization will get $15 (50%) of each sale!

Here’s how it works:

1) Download the informational flyer below. You can reproduce it for bulletins, handouts, newspaper inserts, etc with your group’s contact information on it.

2) Email sales@dyinglight.com to let us know you’ll be starting a fundraiser. We’ll make sure there is some product set aside for you.

3) Set a timeframe (we suggest 2 weeks) and tell your parish, school, club, community about the fundraiser. Collect the funds and contact information of the people who order for your records.

4) Email us again with the number of CD-ROM’s you’ve sold, and we’ll make payment arrangements for $15 per CD-ROM - the rest is for your group to use! We’ll send them right out to you, with free shipping! There is a minimum of 5 CD-ROMs per fundraiser, though.

If you are planning an appeal and may need hundreds of CD-ROMs, email sales@dyinglight.com and we can work out special pricing and arrangements, including direct order fulfillment.

For a more long-term, hands-off fundraising option, consider our affiliate program which pays 25% of each referred sale of the Digital Catholic Library. Perfect for a website or blog!

Here’s a video overview of the Digital Catholic Library and its features:

CNN has a story on how people are ‘freaking out’ over the stress from the economic fallout.

It seems even if we are not headed into a depression financially, many of us are in the midst of a psychological depression due to the recent bad news on Wall Street.

Isn’t this one of those things that are outside our control? Even if you are not religious, aren’t we all supposed to act, not react?

All fear is anticipation of loss. In this case, loss of money, financial security. I’m not sure financial security is all that secure; even if you hold onto cold hard cash it can be stolen, lost, or become worthless due to a fluctuation in the market - or the government. Someone once told me that the retail price of soap has increased more in the past 100 years or so than gold; ‘precious’ substances, in the end, are less valuable even in monetary value than non-perishable necessities.

If, while you are holding onto something (in this case money) and are so afraid of losing it you cannot function, there is something wrong with the way you are living. I’m not trying to be preachy. This has nothing to do with faith or religion. If you are getting emotionally sick over something you have no control over, do something that you can have control over. For one thing, I’ll hazard a guess that despite the credit crunch we are going to see a surge in small businesses in the next 6 months.

I’m not going to quote a Scripture here, but rather a pagan Samurai warrior:

“If you are full of anxiety and constantly fret about this and that, you will never be able to handle anything well… Samurai were trained as a matter of course to live simply with a minimum of possessions. It is much better to be free of attachment to things and events; when one has attained a high level of insight, he is unconcerned with the ceaseless flow of activities and objects” (Yamaoka Tesshu, quoted in the Way of the Christian Samurai