thoughts in and out of season
James Kalb The Pope says that violence cannot be invoked in the name of God. Cardinal Ratzinger adds that “God is reconciliation and peace. He must be seen as the one who unites us and not as the one who separates us and justifies violence.” [The quotation is from an emailed Zenit.org story that I can’t find … More ...
Here’s an initial draft of my letter to Cardinal Arinze (see previous entry). Any comments would be very welcome:
… More ...Your Eminence:
I write to urge you and other responsible officials to be as generous as possible in making the traditional Latin mass freely available to the faithful.
I am a very recent convert to Catholicism.
Michael Davies has written a letter to member associations of Una Voce asking for letters to be sent to Cardinal Arinze in support of the Tridentine mass. It appears that Rome is considering something major, possibly a public statement confirming that every priest has a right to use the traditional rite when he chooses. It … More ...
Whither traditionalist Catholicism? One answer is that if God thinks it’s good it’ll end up doing OK, and if He doesn’t it won’t. It’s also possible to view the thing from a strictly human standpoint, though. And from the latter standpoint traditionalism does have certain strengths:
A good article by John Rao: “Why Catholics Cannot Defend Themselves: The Religious and Cultural Suicide of a Conquered People”. Or at least one that’s helpful to me. Before I was a Catholic I wrote a couple of things on liberalism and pluralism that are in line with Dr. Rao’s views, but he develops … More ...
“Neoconservatism” is a contentious term, but it’s useful as a description of a movement that attempts to moderate and so stabilize liberal modernity. In particular, neoconservatism accepts both the modern aspiration to reform all things and bring them in line with clear universal principles, and the liberal choice of freedom, equality and efficiency as the … More ...
I’ve started praying the Rosary and already there are issues! It seems to me that the Pope’s new luminous mysteries are less personal and connected than the others. They don’t seem to tell the story from Mary’s viewpoint quite as much. Maybe I’ll stick with the oldies until I hit my stride and then try … More ...
A good summary by a postmodern of the perspective for which he stands: “Postmodernism is what you have when the modernization process is complete and nature is gone for good.” Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (Duke, 1991), p. ix.
It appears that in Jameson’s definition “modernization” is the reduction of … More ...
Here’s some interesting background (I would skip the commentary) on the religious restrictions our troops must observe in Arab countries: Keep it to Yourself. Was “Islamic tolerance” ever much more than a stick to beat Christianity with?
A clever summary of the arguments for “gay marriage” and their intrinsic flaw: The Marriage of True Minds: A Dialogue. Why, after all, shouldn’t I be able to marry George Washington or the Bank of Nova Scotia?