Pazdziernik II

Blessed Pope John Paul II

As a Catholic and as a Christian I am overjoyed that earlier this Divine Mercy Sunday and Second Sunday of Easter, in Vatican City, Pope Benedict XVI beatified John Paul II (1920 — 2005). As one of 100% Polish heritage, I am particularly grateful for the pontificate of Blessed John Paul II and thankful to Pope Benedict and to God for this new recognition. Blessed John Paul II has certainly been a true hero and inspiration of mine since 1978. In particular, he has been a source of courage in my life in countless ways; both to follow Christ and live in a human way.

Catholic theologian and popular author George Weigel, has a good piece in the Washington Post, this week reflecting on John Paul II:

John Paul II was arguably the most consequential pope of the last five hundred years.

His radical Christian discipleship, and his remarkable capacity to let that commitment shine through his words and his actions, made Christianity interesting and compelling in a world that thought it had outgrown its “need” for religious faith. He was a man of extraordinary courage, the kind of courage that comes from a faith forged in reflection on Calvary and the murder of the Son of God; the kind of courage that inspires courage in others. Against the cultural conventions of his time, he showed that young people want to be challenged to live lives of heroism. He lifted up the dignity of the human person at a moment when the West was tempted to traipse down the path to Huxley’s brave new world of manufactured and stunted humanity. And he proclaimed the universality of human rights with a power that helped bring down the greatest tyranny in human history.

I’m often asked about the most striking human traits I saw in John Paul II over more than a quarter-century of observation and during twelve years of intense personal conversation. One answer I frequently give is that the late pope was the most intensely curious man I’ve ever known. His mind was always oriented toward the present and the future. He always wanted to know about the new books, the new articles, and the new arguments in my corner of the intellectual and cultural world. He even wanted to know the latest pope-jokes.

 

 

Image: John Paul II by Grzegorz Gałązka

Barack Obama's Worldview on Philanthropy

WSJ's Daniel Henninger recently penned an insightful and main stream contrarian piece on the current President in regard to his economic philosophy: Obama's Millionaire Obsession (April 28,2011). It provides the occasion to call to mind the success of private sector philanthropy and to record a memorable quote...

Since the Pilgrims, no nation has seen more wealth flow back from those who earned it into the welfare of the nation they inhabit.

Andrew Carnegie alone built more than 1,600 libraries in the U.S. Today, according to Internal Revenue Service data, there are some 110,000 grant-making private foundations in the U.S. Beyond the foundations bearing the names of famously undertaxed plutocrats such as Warren Buffett and Bill Gates there are another hundred thousand or so, often run by modestly wealthy families whose foundations support a vast array of needs—scholarships, schools, hospitals, cultural institutions and even causes across the political spectrum, no doubt including windmills.

The Center on Wealth and Philanthropy at Boston College reports that giving by individuals hit an astounding $243 billion in 2007. As to the millionaires, the report says, "In that year, households with $1 million or more in net worth gave 52%, or $126.15 billion." During the 2008 recession, their giving dropped 4% "because there were 27% fewer millionaire households at that time." But by the end of 2009, giving by millionaire households returned to 52% of the national total.

It is an eternal question whether the deductibility of such spending means the charitable activity by these people is bogus and driven only by self-regard. One man's answer: Eliminate the charitable deduction, drop—or flatten—the top tax rate and total giving will rise, not fall. Giving is what Americans do, at all income levels.

It becomes clearer by the day that Barack Obama's worldview is that if money isn't spent by the federal government, it's somehow irrelevant. What began with the $800 billion stimulus in 2009 has turned into a personal compulsion to fund his galaxy of public "investments," such as high-speed rail and biofuels research.