thoughts in and out of season
James Kalb Catholic bloggers, alert to opposition to the Pope’s motu proprio from suspects usual and otherwise, have come up with some notable examples, one by sometime America editor Fr. Thomas Reese quoted at Journey to Vatican III, and another at a weblog devoted to the Spirit of Vatican II that presents the thoughts of … More ...
When I was in law school I knew nothing about Richard Posner, but it seemed obvious from the sneering remarks of my professors that what he had to say was very important and probably well-founded, at least within the world of late-20th-century American legal scholarship. I still know very little about Posner, but so far … More ...
According to Robert Conquest, everyone is conservative about what he knows best. When it’s something people not only know but love, like sports, they become downright traditionalist: for proof, see Steve Sailer’s note on the old gaffers they have as sportscasters out in LA.
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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
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 ...
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: