thoughts in and out of season
James Kalb A look around the net confirms that mainstream and liberal religion is instinctively left-wing, traditional and orthodox religion right-wing. The exceptions usually seem a little artificial, more a matter of sticking with a theory than immediate unselfconscious perception of how things are.
I suppose the reason things sort out that way is that both mainstream … More ...
The great contribution religion can make to us today is to liberate us from the chains of modernity. “Religion today must speak to modern man” is true the way “religion in a jail must speak to prisoners” is true.
Fundamentally, modernity is an attempt to abolish the transcendent and reconstruct the world as a system … More ...
I’ve been reading Matthew in the Vulgate and rather like it. The Latin is simple—the vulgar tongue after all—and familiarity with it helps with the language of the Tridentine mass. Also, it means something that the words are words that some people in the Palestine of Jesus’ time might have used. It seems to bring … More ...
Some interesting background on Vatican II: Diary of an insider (the “insider” was Yves Congar).
I have no knowledge of Congar or his views, but gather that one objection he made to the pre-Vatican II situation was over-centralization. I agree with that. All I’d add is that if centralization is the problem reform-from-above and rule … More ...
I found this amusing, although it doesn’t particularly prove anything: Spycatchers trapped by bugging bills. 20,000 phones tapped in Germany does sound like rather a lot.
Those Canadians are back again: India-Born Canadian Novelist Rohinton Mistry Cancels US Book Tour Over Racial Profiling. The noted storyteller complained that on previous visits he had been stopped and searched rudely at every airport he passed through and didn’t want to go through the experience again. The real news in the piece though … More ...
Another thought about the Dalrymple piece on crime in France that I commented on yesterday: one of the complaints the French make is that the police do nothing about crime, even when it happens right in front of them. They won’t even accept reports. That seems inevitable in a sensitized and politically correct society. … More ...
The function of Catholic dogma is mostly the description of a world in which Christian morality is the natural way of acting. So conversion has its theoretical side. The world should look different. A couple of random thoughts on what that might mean:
To touch on current events, it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out: Vatican drafts new guidelines for accepting priestly candidates that (apparently) will bar homosexuals. A common response in American church circles to settled doctrine on homosexuality has been in effect to say “yes, official doctrine is that it’s sinful, but it’s not … More ...
Usually I just glance at the New York Times, so I miss most of the goodies, and I’m glad when someone points them out. So I was happy when Diana West noted in a recent column that the Times is apparently incapable of identifying the Muslim suicide terrorists who seized the theater in Moscow … More ...