thoughts in and out of season
James Kalb Surveys are a crude measure of personal lives, but they do provide something of a reality check. So it’s worth noting that a large-scale study shows that Britons are increasingly depressed, unhappy in their relationships, and alienated from civic society despite higher incomes, better health and much greater opportunity for women. Some notable statistics:
I signed up a sponsor, and have decided on “Thomas” as my confirmation name, so it’s all taking concrete form.
A couple of people have asked me why I’m converting. I’ve told them it’s because Christianity is the Incarnation, and the Incarnation makes no sense unless it’s very important for God to have a particular … More ...
Here’s an update to our previous discussion of the technological approach to sex education, the one that simply trains children in techniques, that displays its consequences rather nicely: U.K. Government urges under-16s to experiment with oral sex. It avoids pregnancy, after all, and isn’t that the rational goal to be concerned with?
What the … More ...
A September 11 conspirator has been found guilty in Germany, and the court has imposed the maximum possible sentence—somewhat less than 2 days per victim.
Soccer moms, or their grandmothers, have always been the root of all evil. At least that’s what John Lott seems to be saying in his paper How Dramatically Did Women’s Suffrage Change the Size and Scope of Government? Give women the vote, it appears, and very soon you’ll have the nanny state. The paper … More ...
“Free to be you and me,” which at bottom refers to the notion that the only moral connections among human beings are contract and the abstract solidarity of the tolerant and inclusive welfare state, has some unfortunate implications. Here’s one, which comes out of life as actually lived in our nation’s capital: Witnesses’ apathy caught … More ...
Par. 1930 of the Catechism says rights “are the basis of the moral legitimacy of every authority.” It doesn’t say rights are “necessary for” legitimacy, it says they are “the basis of” legitimacy. The formulation echoes the statement in the Declaration of Independence that governments are instituted to secure rights. It seems to suggest that … More ...
Is it true that “the human person … is and ought to be the principle, the subject and the end of all social institutions?” [Gaudium et spes, cited in par. 1881 of the Catechism.] In a sense it is, but the formulation can distract attention from the extent to which man becomes what … More ...
In a very idle moment I picked up the Thursday arts section of The New York Times to see what was up these days—I hadn’t looked at it for quite a while—and found 5 stories:
Paul Gottfried has a couple of complaints about the piece on traditionalism I posted here recently. He says I’m not going to be able to raise the armies of social-moral rearmament I’ll need to reconstitute a traditionalist order, and also finds fault with a couple of negative comments I made (in the piece and elsewhere) … More ...