DB#408 - Saint Nicholas, Peanut Butter and Bacon
In this episode: a 5 year-old runs a 5K! The Saint Nicholas tradition in the Netherlands; Santa Claus and Coca Cola; Popple; Peanut Butter Sandwiches with Bacon: a live test! My take on the Golden Compass; Archbishop Fulton Sheen, Philip Pullman and CS Lewis; Marie Curie about fear and understanding.
Popple - Website
Popple’s new CD: Plaid
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Fr. Roderick,
There is a website dedicated to St. Nicholas and a movie about him is currently in production. The links are below.
http://www.stnicholascenter.org
http://www.saintnicholasmovie.com
When I finally was able to download today’s show, I was already on the sites above.
Hope everyone in the Netherlands have great Sinterklaas celebrations.
Also, Christmas greetings from Austin!
I listened to your latest show with comments regarding Philip Pullman’s “The Golden Compass.” I will say upfront I have not read and probably will not read, nor have I seen the film.
What irritated me in your comments was the logical leap you made as you talked about the film. First of all, when you speak for Philip Pullman “Philip Pullman himself…saw his books as like an atheist response to the Chronicles of Narnia…” why aren’t you identifying the source of that? How do I KNOW he said that (not that he might have said it), but you chose to put word in his mouth - then please cite them. All I have read is that he admits to being an atheist.
The most irritating was your logical leap. You said about the book you are reading “It seems to be anti-Christian…” Then you go on to explain the breakdown in the structure of the organized Catholic church. You say based on that that it is very clear that Pullman is “anti-Christian.” How does opposing dogmatic structures of faith - Catholic Church - make him “anti-Christian?” You are jumbling things up. 1) He is an atheist; 2) He writes about corrupt organizations in religion, primarily the Catholic Church. Therefore he is anti-Christian. The first two do not necessarily follow that assumption. If I am opposed to the current organization of the American government because I feel it is corrupt, does that make me anti-American. Not at all.
I love your show overall and I applaud you for reading the books before you make a final judgment. But sometimes I think you prompt hysteria by making statements as fact without citing them and making sometimes illogical leaps. I am a fully committed Catholic, but I consider myself a thoughtful Catholic not given to broad generalizations. I hope you take these comments with some degree of understanding.
Thanks for listening.
Hi to all DB listeners!
If anyone could help me out that would be fine. On Sunday I am going to hold a presentation on SQPN and it would be a nice asset to have a list with all or at least many questions ready for the stuff that has been asked on the shows for the “peculiar bunch” segment. It would cost me a lot of time to review all the old episodes but maybe one or the other listener has wrote them down (just the questions like “what do Priests wear under their cassocks”, not the answer
) Any help is appreciated - eMail bluelake(AT)email.de - replace (AT) with @
Best regards from Germany Matthias
And sorry for using the comment line for a not directly new-show related topic
@WFJ:
Although Fr. Roderick can defend himself perfectly well, let me point out to you an article from the Toledo (Ohio, USA) Blade:
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071124/NEWS10/711240353
Note this direct quote from the author of the books:
He told the Sydney Morning Herald in 2003, for example, that “my books are about killing God,” and that he was amused that American Christians have been more critical of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books than His Dark Materials.
“I’ve been flying under the radar, saying things that are far more subversive than anything old Harry has said,” Mr. Pullman said.
The Blade article refers to a BeliefNet interview, but thta site is a MESS to search. I refer you instead to the (footnoted) article on Snopes.com
http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp
I would say there is quite a lot of information to support Fr. Roderick’s assertions regarding the philosophy and attitudes of Pullman.
AAAAARGH!!! That song again…. by the way. They taste best with hagelslag. And make sure it’s Calvé peanut butter.
Fr. Roderick, for the peanut butter sandwich Elvis was a big fan of peanut butter and banana Fired in butter and I have to admit that blend of peanut butter on toast (like a grilled cheese) is amazing.
Bob
@Matthias - Shoot me an email. I’ll hook you up with the answers.
@Taquorian:
hagelslag? Thanks for translating…
@Naomi - Hagelslag: Typically Dutch, looks like this.
@Fr. Roderick: The story about Coca Cola ‘inventing’ Santa Claus is actually not entirely true, see Snopes Urban Legends Reference Pages.
Greetings!
Sorry, but I am still confused-if you enter the Amazon store thru SQPN but then buy things that are not on any of the featured SQPN “picks” lists, does SQPN still get a “cut” of the sale? If this is so, I will ask people I know to enter Amazon thru SQPN, but I want to be sure that is correct. (Sorry if this is a repeat question but I got confused again after listening today).
Thanks for the information on St. Nicholas and the Dutch celebrations. Speaking of food-I feel like I had a “two for one” special today-I listened to the Daily Breakfast while cooking one of Fr. Leo’s recipes!
Have a wonderful St. Nicholas’ celebration!
Bonita
@WFJ - If you oppose the dogma’s that make up Christianity, you’re against them, you’re ‘anti’ (meaning against) Christianity. Which part about this logic is hard to understand. Anti means against. Christianity is nothing else than all the beliefs and dogmas that are called together ‘Christianity’.
Since the Catholic Church is ‘catholic’ (meaning ‘universal’), anyone who is against that universal church of Christ, is against Christ. Hence, anti-Christian.
I read some interviews with the authors where he takes the Catholic Church as an example, let me correct myself by saying that he takes a caricature of the Catholic Church as an example and generalizes that caricature to all Christian Churches.
In non-Catholic churches, like mine (protestant). We see the ‘Church’ as the Body of Christ (all Christians). So when he (the writer) is against churches, he is against the Body of Christ, hence, anti-Christian. Another way of reasoning, leading to the same conclusion.
So Fr. Roderick’s reasoning sounds logic to me, your reasoning doesn’t. Maybe I got something wrong. Either way I read enough reviews both by believers and atheists to be underwhelmed by both the book and the film, so I won’t waste my time reading it. Too busy with Civitate Dei at the moment
Haven’t listened to the episode yet, but I love peanut butter and bacon sandwiches. Not deep-fried or with bananas or anything. Just toast, peanut butter, and bacon. My mother made these for us kids 40 years ago.
Try it, you’ll like it!!
Regarding The Golden Compass:
http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/67309
http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.php?id=25927
http://www.torontosun.com/News/Columnists/Coren_Michael/2007/12/01/pf-4699321.html
http://snopes.com/politics/religion/compass.asp
http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=192123
http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=192126
http://happycatholic.blogspot.com/2007/11/more-on-golden-compass.html
You have to put mayonnaise on the peanut butter and banana sandwich. Peanut butter on one piece of bread, mayo on the other…bananas on the peanut butter side, then mayo bread on top. An American classic!
Also, have you seen the scene in the original “Miracle on 34th Street” where the little Dutch girl talks to “Sinterklaas” ? Another classic!
Here are some more websites with info on the Golden Compass
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/movies/07mv242.htm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22044388/
http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/columnists/robert_w_butler/story/389007.html
Let’s not overlook:
http://www.catholicexchange.com/node/67850
“The Golden Compass brings Nietzsche to Narnia: The Philosophical Underpinnins of His Dark Materials.” by Marc T. Newman, Ph.D.
Peanut butter and Nutella - a favorite sandwich in our home. It’s even better if you add banana.
@Bonita - If your friends enter Amazon.com through the SQPN store then anything they purchase will count. I needed a new battery for my Palm LifeDrive, so I came to SQPN, entered the store and purchased the battery from Amazon. It’s not on the list, but SQPN will still get some money from the transaction. Hope this helps.
The author David Sedaris wrote an hilarious comparison of the Dutch version of Saint Nicholas to our American Santa Claus in an article for Esquire magazine about five years ago. It’s entitled “Six to Eight Black Men” and is one of my favourite of his Christmas pieces. You can find it in many places online if you Google his name and the title. I downloaded it as part of an audiobook on iTunes a couple of years ago, but, when I heard Fr. Roderick’s comparison, I went back and listened to Sedaris’ again. Now my fellow archaeologists think I’m crazy because I stood there for about fifteen minutes helplessly leaning on my shovel and wiping tears from my eyes. VERY funny and worth a read (or listen)!
Re: The Golden Compass
In case you are interested, Coke is sponsoring The Golden Compass and even advertises for it on its website. I sent a comment to Coke expressing my displeasure with their sponsoring such an anti-Christian movie and this was the reply I got:
“Thank you for contacting The Coca-Cola Company. We appreciate the opportunity to respond to your concerns.
The Golden Compass movie is a story about friendship, love, loyalty, tolerance, courage and responsibility. This movie also provides an opportunity for Coca-Cola to help raise awareness about climate change and the perilous state of the polar bear. We do not believe that this fantasy movie is an attack on any religion. We would never support a film that intentionally antagonized or condemned any faith.
Please be assured that your concerns have been shared within our organization, and always feel free to contact us in the future.
Latonya
Industry and Consumer Affairs
The Coca-Cola Company”
A friend got the exact same reply. I guess they’ve received enough complaints to have a canned response but not enough to pull sponsorship.
If you disagree with Coke, please let them know.
Fr. Roderick, in this show you referred to Santa’s helpers as dwarfs. Actually they are ELVES and we’ve made you into one using a fun flash program from an office superstore company here in the States. I’ll let you make one for Greg and Jennifer!
http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1218427332
Taquoriaan says:
“If you oppose the dogma’s that make up Christianity, you’re against them, you’re ‘anti’ (meaning against) Christianity. Which part about this logic is hard to understand. Anti means against. Christianity is nothing else than all the beliefs and dogmas that are called together ‘Christianity’.”
Perhaps this is why I found the logic lacking. I see Christianity and Christians as followers of or believers in Christ. Dogma on the other hand refers to doctrine that has been formalized by an organization such as the Catholic Church or any other organized Churches which is based upon the example of Christ. For me then, a person can be opposed to or denigrate for better or worse a structure of the Church such as the Catholic Church, Methodist, etc. but not necessarily be anti-Christian. Now before you misunderstand me, I am not saying Pullman is not anti-Christian. My posts have been about leaping from criticizing the structures of Christianity to claiming anti-Christian.
For better or worse, there are statements that have come from the Catholic Church, of which I am a member, that I might not have agreed with, but that doesn’t make me anti-Christian (and not necessarily anti-Catholic). If I went further and criticized the structure or even the dogma of the Catholic Church, that might make me anti-Catholic, but not necessarily anti-Christian.
That was my previous point. Fr. Roderick was using them interchangeably, or at least quoting others who used them interchangeably. And I don’t see them in that way. If I am a Catholic I am a Christian. But being a Christian does not make me a Catholic. To say that anti-Catholic implies anti-Christian is flat out bad logic.
Is this Catholic/Christian question similar to the chicken or the egg question?
Catholics believe that Jesus Christ founded the Church as his living body. We believe that the fullness of that Church is the Catholic Church. The Church is not an entity that is opposite or separate of Jesus Christ. Therefore, in my view, you cannot separate Christ from his Church. Attacking and rejecting the Church is in way, rejecting Jesus Christ himself. And rejecting Jesus Christ is what I would call being anti-Christian.
That is what Jesus implies when he says in Luke ch.10,v.16: “Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.” Pretty strong language…
And WJF, since the Daily Breakfast is a conversational show, and not a scientific thesis, I think the criticism that I don’t give exact quotes and citations regarding Philip Pullman and that I’m “jumbling things up” is exaggerated and unfair. There are lots of interviews with Pullman in which he shows his explicit opinions about Christianity, about the idea of God and heaven and about the Church. I’m just giving my general impression of all that. Pullman is clearly both anti-Catholic and anti-Christian. One attitude flows from the other. That’s not bad logic. Just a bad attitude.
ok now for the serious stuff: must. have. the peanutbutter song.
Where can I find it again?