Stumbled upon this concept of "pilgrimages". I feel like it's become a less known idea, of traveling with a religious purpose to a specific religious place. I guess for me it gives more of a purpose to travel, which sometimes otherwise seems to seem less appealing to me. (I've heard the word "travel" comes from a word related to "torture" because travel used to be a lot more difficult before modern times)

Any thoughts on the topic of religious pilgrimages?

Catholic encyclopedia on pilgramages: https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12085a.htm

> Once theophanies are localized, pilgrimages necessarily follow. The Incarnation was bound inevitably to draw men across Europe to visit the Holy Places, for the custom itself arises spontaneously from the heart. It is found in all religions. The Egyptians journeyed to Sekket's shrine at Bubastis or to Ammon's oracle at Thebes; the Greeks sought for counsel from Apollo at Delphi and for cures from Asclepius at Epidaurus; the Mexicans gathered at the huge temple of Quetzal; the Peruvians massed in sun-worship at Cuzco and the Bolivians in Titicaca. But it is evident that the religions which centered round a single character, be he god or prophet, would be the most famous for their pilgrimages, not for any reason of tribal returns to a central district where alone the deity has power, but rather owing to the perfectly natural wish to visit spots made holy by the birth, life, or death of the god or prophet. Hence Buddhism and Mohammedanism are especially famous in inculcating this method of devotion. Huge gatherings of people intermittently all the year round venerate Kapilavastu where Gaukama Gaukama Buddha began his life, Benares where he opened his sacred mission, Kasinagara where he died; and Mecca and Medina have become almost bywords in English as the goals of long aspirations, so famous are they for their connexion with the prophet of Islam.

...

> Again it may be noted how, when the penitential system of the Church, which grouped itself round the sacrament of the confessional, had been authoritatively and legally organized, pilgrimages were set down as adequate punishments inflicted for certain crimes. The hardships of the journey, the penitential garb worn, the mendicity it entailed made a pilgrimage a real and efficient penance (Beazley, "Dawn of Modern Geography", II, 139; Furnival, "The Stacions of Rome and the Pilgrim's Sea Voyage", London, 1867, 47). To quote a late text, the following is one of the canons enacted under King Edgar (959-75): "It is a deep penitence that a layman lay aside his weapons and travel far barefoot and nowhere pass a second night and fast and watch much and pray fervently, by day and by night and willingly undergo fatigue and be so squalid that iron come not on hair or on nail" (Thorpe, "Ancient Laws", London, 1840, 411-2; cf. 44, 410, etc.).

You can't disprove flat earth theory... or can you?

So this concept is about setting goals that challenge you, "stretching" you perhaps a little beyond your current limits. I was curious what your experiences have been with this idea?

It seems some businesses do a bad job with these, perhaps stressing people out with unrealistic aspirations. Yet this is probably just a problem with setting the appropriate amount of difficulty and not inherent in the concept of stretch goals themselves.

Have you had any good experiences with the concept of stretch goals or any ideas on how to make them work better or any you're working on you want to discuss?

https://infogalactic.com/info/Geocentrism

Well there's this site

https://galileowaswrong.blogspot.com/p/summary.html

> Galileo Was Wrong is a detailed and comprehensive treatment of the scientific evidence supporting Geocentrism, the academic belief that the Earth is immobile in the center of the universe. Garnering scientific information from physics, astrophysics, astronomy and other sciences, Galileo Was Wrong shows that the debate between Galileo and the Catholic Church was much more than a difference of opinion about the interpretation of Scripture.

> Scientific evidence available to us within the last 100 years that was not available during Galileo's confrontation shows that the Church's position on the immobility of the Earth is not only scientifically supportable, but it is the most stable model of the universe and the one which best answers all the evidence we see in the cosmos.

But also, as far as I understand it, Galileo was thought to be in the wrong not necessarily for scientific views, but for implied theological arguments based on those views.

For example, scientifically and theologically I thought geocentrism was the prevailing view at that time among scientists (God created the earth as a kind of "moral center" of the universe of God's Creation?); today acentrism (universe has no center) seems to be a prevailing scientific view. So by this logic, Galileo was wrong by modern scientific standards, and theologically some still argue for a kind of geocentrism or other such views (such as "galileowaswrong.com" or other such sites) against Galileo's theological views.

Hence Galileo was rightly criticized for lacking religious caution; his rebellious attitude against religion (again, not necessarily for supporting a speculative scientific view) indeed has caused centuries of harm, pitting science against religion, whereas true science can never contradict religious truth.

In my view, this sounds like part of the show, I think Vigano is probably in on. Just like Lefebvre and SSPX. They set up "conservatives" they can ban as "schismatic". Our position is rather the Vatican is in schism and Francis is neither a Catholic nor a pope. The Vatican's legitimacy must be undermined and tradition promoted instead, so that a traditional Catholic pope is elected who rejects Vatican 2 and believes and practices the Catholic faith.

(Also why it seemed like a waste of time for me to try to do anything under the Vatican only to be "excommunicated". Catholicism is "excommunicated" under the Vatican... meaning that the Vatican itself is not Catholic, and itself excommunicated, rather instead.)

With the arrival of summer, does anyone have any interesting summer plans to share?

I have some loosely organized family "reunions" or gatherings planned or in mind, but I suppose for the short term besides that a lot is up in the air and life is like a "rolling release" (by analogy to software) of a bunch of tasks that are being incrementally worked on.

There's also various local events and festivals going on that I might check out.

What's summer looking like for you?

What does "Juneteenth", this new federal holiday in recent years (based on celebrations that have existed for much longer), mean to you?

A celebration of freedom and the responsible use thereof?

A day to highlight ongoing illegal chattel slavery that still exists today, or "legal" wage slavery problems that still are to be fought?

Something else?

> St. Bonaventure bears witness to this, when he says: "The most terrible penalty of the damned is being shut out forever from the blissful and joyous contemplation of the Blessed Trinity." Again, St. John Chrysostom says: "I know many persons only fear Hell because of its pains, but I assert that the loss of the celestial glory is a source of more bitter pain than all the torments of Hell."

> The evil one himself was made to acknowledge this, as we read in the legends of Blessed Jordan, at one time General of the Dominican Order. For when Jordan asked Satan, in the person of one who was possessed, what was the principal torment of Hell, he answered: "Being excluded from the presence of God." "Is God then so beautiful to look upon?" Jordan inquired. And on the devil replying that He was indeed most beautiful, he asked further: "How great is His beauty?" "Fool that thou art," was the rejoinder, "to put such a question to me! Dost thou not know that His beauty is beyond compare?" "Canst thou not suggest any similitude," Jordan continued, "which may give me to some extent at least an idea of the Divine beauty?" Then Satan said: "Imagine a crystal sphere a thousand times more brilliant than the sun, in which the loveliness of all the colors of the rainbow, the fragrance of every flower, the sweetness of every delicious flavour, the costliness of every precious stone, the kindliness of men and the attractiveness of all the Angels combined; fair and precious as this crystal would be, in comparison with the Divine beauty, it would be unsightly and impure."

> "And pray," the good monk inquired, "what wouldst thou give to be admitted to the vision of God?" And the devil replied: "If there were a pillar reaching from earth to Heaven, beset with sharp points and nails and hooks, I would gladly consent to be dragged up and down that pillar from now until the Day of Judgment, if I could only be permitted to gaze on the Divine countenance for a few brief moments."

from: http://www.catholictradition.org/Classics/4last-things3f.htm

http://www.catholictradition.org/Classics/4last-things.htm

https://archive.org/details/QuestionsOfMoralTheology

(page 355)

Summary: It's debated if it's difficult or not, yet it is encouraged that people attempt to have a perfect contrition for sin.

But either way it is an important theological topic from a Catholic perspective (arguably among the most important):

> In attempting to give an answer to this question I presuppose certain doctrines of Catholic faith. I presuppose that contrition is of such efficacy with God that an act of perfect contrition elicited from the motive of God's infinite goodness at once reconciles the sinner with God. This it does by virtue of perfect charity which contrition implicitly contains. I also presuppose that God seriously desires the salvation of all men, and in His Providence furnishes all with the means to obtain it. The question, then, is not merely one of speculative theology; it is exceedingly practical. For such as cannot receive the sacrament of Penance and yet have committed mortal sin an act of perfect contrition, or of perfect love of God, is the only means of salvation. Thus the question, whether an act of contrition is difficult or not is practically the same as the question whether it is difficult or not for the innumerable multitudes to obtain salvation who, for one reason or another, cannot receive the sacrament of Penance before death.

Catholic encyclopedia on Contrition:

https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/04337a.htm

> Catholic teaching distinguishes a twofold hatred of sin; one, perfect contrition, rises from the love of God Who has been grievously offended; the other, imperfect contrition, arises principally from some other motives, such as loss of heaven, fear of hell, the heinousness of sin, etc. (Council of Trent, Sess. XIV, ch. iv de Contritione).

An Act of Contrition

http://www.traditionalcatholic.net/Tradition/Prayer/Act_of_Contrition.html

> O my God! I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee; and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all good, and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.

Related Work: "Contrition: Golden Key of Paradise (1959)" https://ecatholic2000.com/cts/untitled-110.shtml

I've heard this claim before that it is not possible for atheists to have "objective moral beliefs" because many moral claims are based on religious authority, which atheists do not believe in.

Thus atheists are subjectivists when it comes to morality: each atheist may disagree with the other about what is moral. Obviously this opens atheists up to problems of disagreements, with some who might believe very conventionally "immoral" things are acceptable for them.

This is not of course to say that atheists may not choose to live lives that are some what "moral" (moral, as is often defined by religions)

So, what's the status of the idea of "objective morality" and atheism?

https://veteran.com/national-moment-remembrance/

> Americans observe the National Moment of Remembrance at 3 p.m. every Memorial Day (the last Monday in May). It is intended to help Americans spend a brief, but significant time remembering the sacrifices of those who died as a result of military service.

> At 3 p.m. local time on the last Monday in May, Americans are asked to stop for 60 seconds or one full minute to remember those who have died in service to their country.

> While participation is voluntary, the VA fact sheet suggests a variety of ways in which you can observe the moment. These include pausing for a simple moment of silence. listening to “Taps” or attending an organized group setting. If you are driving a vehicle, the VA suggests turning on your headlights in observance of the moment.

I saw an "opportunistic" article posted online urging people to not drink raw milk as they might get bird flu from it... which I thought most people would shrug off as obvious propaganda against raw milk, but I saw it posted in earnest elsewhere so I decided to post this here

Raw milk has a lot of alleged health benefits; the author makes the ridiculous plea for "no one to drink raw milk for any reason"...

The problem with pasteurization, as with antibiotics, is the process also kills good nutrients like antibiotics kills good bacteria

So by drinking raw milk you can get the good nutrients without them being destroyed. I know of dairy farmers who would drink pretty much straight from the cow without getting sick. The milk tastes totally different (better, a lot of people think)

The elderly or children or sickly might avoid drinking raw milk, but otherwise it's a healthy consideration for a lot of people

Example pro-raw-milk article: https://www.rawmilkinstitute.org/updates/letter-to-medical-professionals-about-raw-milk

> Numerous scientific studies have shown that raw milk is correlated with decreased rates of asthma, allergies, eczema, otitis, fever, and respiratory infections. Raw milk also aids in recovery from antibiotic use, and provides many gut-healthy probiotics and enzymes.

Here's the biased fearmongering article in contrast: https://gizmodo.com/raw-milk-sales-up-bird-flu-h5n1-tiktok-usda-cdc-fda-1851476916

I'm confused here because didn't they think cows were causing methane problems (separate issue?) and why don't cows help take CO2 out of air compared to bison? So could just having a lot more big animals (other animals mentioned in article I think?) help take CO2 out of the air, or is this kind of like the trillion trees project which was plants now being applied to animals... will it work? No? Thoughts on the situation?

could be dangerous

also could be an "alleged election year hoax" that we press x to doubt about

> zika virus

> swine flu

> monkeypox

I think it's like the second full week in May every year

Discuss also cycling-related topics?

Some saints seem to have had this practice:

> ST. COLUMBA, the apostle of the Picts, was born of a noble family, at Gartan, in the county of Tyrconnel, Ireland, in 521. From early childhood he gave himself to God. In all his labors--and they were many--his chief thought was heaven and how he should secure the way thither. The result was that he lay on the bare floor, with a stone for his pillow, and fasted all the year round; yet the sweetness of his countenance told of the holy soul's interior serenity. Though austere, he was not morose; and, often as he longed to die, he was untiring in good works, throughout his life.

> [St.] Lupicinus used no other bed than a chair or a hard board; never touched wine, and would scarcely ever suffer a drop either of oil or milk to be poured on his pottage. In summer his subsistence for many years was only hard bread moistened in cold water, so that he could eat it with a spoon. His tunic was made of various skins of beasts sewn together,. with a cowl; he used wooden shoes, and wore no stockings unless when he was obliged to go out of the monastery.

> ST. FRANCIS OF PAULA. AT the age of fifteen Francis left his poor home at Paula in Calabria, to live as a hermit in a cave by the seacoast. In time disciples gathered round him, and with them, in 1436, he founded the "Minims," so called to show that they were the least of monastic Orders. They observed a perpetual Lent, and never touched meat, fish, eggs, or milk. Francis himself made the rock his bed; his best garment was a hair-shirt, and boiled herbs his only fare. As his body withered his faith grew powerful, and he "did all things in Him Who strengthened him." He cured the sick, raised the dead, averted plagues, expelled evil spirits, and brought sinners to penance. A famous preacher, instigated by a few misguided monks, set to work to preach against St. Francis and his miracles. The Saint took no notice of it, and the preacher, finding that he made no way with his hearers, determined to see this poor hermit and confound him in person. The Saint received him kindly, gave him a seat by the fire, and listened to a long exposition of his own frauds. He then quietly took some glowing embers from the fire, and closing his hands upon them unhurt, said, "Come, Father Anthony, warm yourself, for you are shivering for want of a little charity" Father Anthony, falling at the Saint's feet, asked for pardon, and then, having received his embrace, quitted him, to become his panegyrist and attain himself to great perfection.

via Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros.

I like this 3D picture format that allows you to travel around at different snapshots... any other sites like this or favorite tours on the site?

(I guess also "viewer beware", idk what tours they link to... looks like some tours I would avoid)