extreme Catholic 

Since Zacarias Moussaoui will never be executed, it must be seen as the end of the death penalty in the United States.

He might join an elite club of convicted murderers like Siran Siran, David Berkowitz, and Winston Moseley, who because their victims were so high profile, a ''life sentence'' might actually be what they serve.

He might obtain a measure of justice as John Geoghan, former Catholic priest did -- killed by another inmate in August 2003.

I went back and forth on the death penalty until I settled on the pro-death penalty side - that laws, jury verdicts, and the imposition of the death penalty - are consistent with the teaching of Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church.

To the usual arguments I add that the persons those convicted to a ''life'' sentence are a terrible risk to other inmates and prison guards since there is no restraint on their behavior, no penalty left for the state to impose.

The arguments will ring hollow now -- every jury from now until the Final Judgment will recall that the person complicit in the murder of 3,000 was not executed. So how can a jury impose the death penalty for the death of merely one?

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 11:12 PM   Permalink  

My in-house cultural critic is my 12 year old son. Why do they even put the word pimp on television?.

My first and unsatisfactory answer is Because they can.

But I know this is a teaching moment.

He knows, as I am certain my readers know, that sin is what is contrary to God's will.

I added — what makes the sin of a pimp more serious is that he leads others into sin. So I divided sin into some categories:

1. There's a sin that involves just involves an object or person, like stealing something -- it's a desire for something that's out of control (a disorded love)

2. There's a sin that involve harm to something or someone: destroying something or hitting someone -- violence (or hatred)

3. Then there is sin that involves thought, preparation, and a deep awareness of evil: that would be fraud, lying or betrayal. (using reason to serve evil)

4. And at the deepest layer of hell, a place for those who drag others into sin. And this brings us to the pimp. He exploits two weaknesses: the desire of men for sex without the relationship of marriage and without respect for the woman, and the desire of women for money and combines the two temptations into three sins: That of the man, the woman, and his own. The new word for "panderer" is "enabler".

And when you think about it, in the Genesis account of original sin, there's a bit of a pimp in Satan who temps Eve with the fruit, namely pride and the offer of knowledge.

posted by Patrick Sweeney at 4:56 PM   Permalink