James Kalb

The Pope on immigration

by

The Pope’s message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees (“To Overcome Racism, Xenophobia and Exaggerated Nationalism”) is in one sense typical—it follows the line all respectable Christian religious leaders now follow—but in another sense quite extraordinary:

  • He speaks of “undocumented migrants” as among “the most vulnerable of foreigners,” of “the Christian
… More ...

The bishops on Iraq

by

I’m dubious too about the projected war with Iraq, although the reason may be that I know so little about the situation. Still, it’s important to sort through the issues rationally. With that in mind, it seems to me that the definition of “just cause” as a case in which “the damage inflicted by the … More ...

Ens realissimum

by

“The question of whether God exists is less important than whether he is love.”

I’ve run into this a couple of times now on Catholic blogs and it really seems wrong to me. If we talk about God while putting his existence to one side a statement about his nature becomes a statement about our … More ...

The necessity of dogma, revelation and miracles

by

Dogma, the question of what we can know and what is real, is essential to religion. We can’t commit ourselves to what is nonexistent or utterly unknowable. We need God because we lack something, and what we lack must be supplied by something not ourselves. The God we need is therefore one who is real, … More ...

These things are secondary

by

All roads lead to Rome. Looking at what I’ve posted on Metanoia it seems my own road has been more through metaphysics, ethics and law than anything else. All of which are important and even necessary things but somewhat ancillary. They point beyond themselves and set the stage so that the real work can begin.

Current reading

by

I’ve started reading Jonathan Kwitny’s Man of the Century, which seems a competent account of the Pope’s life by a very industrious New York journalist well-known as an investigative reporter. The author’s basic outlook is that of a mainstream New York journalist—my guess is that he’s a secular Jew—but he admires the Pope and … More ...

More on pluralism

by

Other ways to make the point I made in my most recent entry:

  • The problem with “pluralism” is that it only applies to other beliefs. Pluralism itself must be accepted universally. It is therefore monist and not pluralist.
  • It is inevitable that there is a plurality of fundamental beliefs. Today, as always, that situation must
… More ...