James Kalb
Turning point
The Pope’s long-rumored Apostolic Letter issued motu proprio (“on his own motion”) facilitating the use of the classical Roman liturgy is now out, along with an explanatory letter from the Pope addressed to the world’s bishops. I’ve commented already on why I think the issue is important and the Motu Proprio has world-historical importance… More ...
Toleration and truth
A poster over at Right Reason has put together an argument for a classical liberal conception of tolerance that has apparently appealed to various independent thinkers alarmed by 20th century fanaticisms. It’s more sober than the usual praise of tolerance found today but still an attempt to get something—a reliable guide for conduct—out of nothing—a … More ...
The tube gets serious
I’ve been watching the Polish TV miniseries The Decalogue, directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski. It’s really extraordinary, the ultimate category-buster as far as TV miniseries go.
As the name suggests, there are 10 films or episodes, each based (somewhat loosely) on one of the 10 Commandments and each about the lives and moral struggles of … More ...
Radical theology as the essence of the mainstream
I was struck by a quotation from an essay by feminist theologian Rosemary Radford Ruether mentioned in an article about a Catholic-connected conference in which she’ll be taking part:
… More ...“All racist, sexist, classist, and anthropocentric assumptions of the superiority of whites over blacks, males over females, managers over workers, humans over animals and plants must
All that is solid melts into air
A couple of recent polls indicate a decided recent shift to the left on social issues, and so make it evident that current fears of fundamentalism and theocracy are due mostly to the shock of increasingly radical “mainstream” thinkers that there are people who haven’t radicalized as much as they have and so act as … More ...
Modernity as the lunacy of pedants
La Rochefoucauld says that “he who lives without folly is not so wise as he thinks.” The point applies more strongly as the effort becomes more comprehensive, so that a whole society that tries to live perfectly rationally will go stark staring mad. That is increasingly the case with our own society:
- Scientism, the
Liberalism, America, and Americanism
A commenter, apparently an American Jew long resident in Italy who can view America (and Europe) as both insider and outsider, has posted a lengthy ramble about America, Americanism, modernity, and related topics. His ramble raises some interesting issues, but two that seem especially worth commenting on are whether advanced liberalism, the currently ascendant … More ...
The majesty of the law
Student free speech cases like “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” strike me as rather silly. Schools always try to bring students to think and act in some ways rather than others. That’s why they exist. To do so they maintain controlled environments and clear hierarchies of authority. In particular, they prescribe the topics of … More ...
Get with the program or you’re divisive
Senator Obama, whose own church seems quite ready to accentuate differences, repeats the common goodthinker’s complaint that
Somehow, somewhere along the way, faith stopped being used to bring us together and started being used to drive us apart.
The change is not so mysterious. In the 60s or thereabouts governing elites decisively rejected their … More ...