thoughts in and out of season
James Kalb One more in a series of allegations against aid workers and peacekeepers: UN discounts charges of widespread refugee abuse. As we’ve noted recently, those who have custody of the weak are subject to peculiar temptations, and people who intend to give into the temptations even seek out such positions. Modern social policy is … More ...
As usual, the wingnuts were right: the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the most widely accepted international agreement ever (the U.S. and Somalia are the only two non-parties), does in fact guarantee children the right, regardless of local law or custom, to be sexually active and get an abortion without parental involvement. … More ...
Went to “RCIA” again today, my third session. I use the scare quotes because the parish doesn’t have a formal program, they just match you up with a priest and you come in once a week to talk. We’re using Ratzinger’s The Spirit of the Liturgy as the basis for discussion—a step up from the … More ...
It seems that “metanoia” really means a change of mind with respect to action. So the mental aspects of getting your life turned around would be metanoia on a grand scale. Sounds pretty close to “conversion,” but I like the Greek word anyway.
But what’s the need of conversion? Why want to … More ...
Why “metanoia”? Usually I don’t like the Christian use of Greek words, agape, kairos, koinonia or whatever. The effect is to suggest special authoritative knowledge that the rest of us just have to accept, and the substance is more often tendentious overemphasis on a one-sided interpretation of a key term. Still, I like … More ...
I put the following notes together shortly before beginning the process leading to conversion:
… More ...I want to become a Catholic because:
1. Grand philosophical reasons:
- I believe in a God with purposes. That’s the only way I can make sense of a world in which there is real good and evil, or for that matter
Naturally, I’ve been thinking about this for quite a while. For anyone who’s interested, here are some thoughts on Catholicism from my other blog:
My first entry! I have another blog, a political one that I share with another editor, which hardly seems the place for random thoughts and ramblings about what after all is my personal situation. I’m a 55-year-old man, married with three children, a lawyer and writer, who is going through the process of … More ...
No surprise here: hundreds of British child welfare professionals, including police officers, care workers and teachers, have been identified as ‘extremely high-risk’ paedophiles by an investigation into internet porn. If you were a pedophile, wouldn’t a position that gave you access and authority over children—with no one supervising the situation because you are the supervisor—be … More ...
No safe haven for bigotry: Nannies in Britain to sue for racial bias. When you’re choosing someone to be alone with your kids for hours on end day after day, the burden will be on you to prove you acted in a nondiscriminatory fashion. I wonder whether this will apply to sexual orientation too?