"...it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants"

To die for. That is they way people sometimes describe something worthy of the highest possible price. But we exaggerate by that expression, because death really is too high a price for a human being to pay, if you think about it. If Momma's lasagna really was “to die for” and you died – how could you enjoy a single serving because you'd be dead? Ultimately physical death is too expensive a price.

Triumph of the Villains
Some Remembrance Day thoughts:In 1935 the great filmmaker, Leni Riefenstahl, produced a documentary with the title "Triumph des Willens". Ten years later proud empires lay in ruins and 60 million people were dead.In English, the title of Riefenstahl's film translates as "the Triumph of the Will" (a reference to the domination of the then newly-elected Hitler), but ironically the German word "Willens" in the title is pronounced like the English word: "villains". Hence the title of his blog: "Triumph of the Villains".

Lawful Killing, as Opposed to Murder and Terrorism
The “Guy Fawkes Day” shooting rampage at Fort Hood on the 5th of November, on top of thoughts of Veterans' Day, Remembrance, two ongoing wars in central Asia, and this week's catechesis I presented to my students on the “5th Commandment” make up a cluster of things this week that have motivated me to say something about the theology of lawful killing. What we have in the person of Nidal Malik Hasan, is a very confused soldier such as the one depicted by Telli Savalas in the film “The Dirty Dozen”. In a prison cell he tries to rationalize his murders with an allusion to the Bi