thoughts in and out of season
“Neoconservatism” is a contentious term, but it’s useful as a description of a movement that attempts to moderate and so stabilize liberal modernity. In particular, neoconservatism accepts both the modern aspiration to reform all things and bring them in line with clear universal principles, and the liberal choice of freedom, equality and efficiency as the … More ...
I’ve started praying the Rosary and already there are issues! It seems to me that the Pope’s new luminous mysteries are less personal and connected than the others. They don’t seem to tell the story from Mary’s viewpoint quite as much. Maybe I’ll stick with the oldies until I hit my stride and then try … More ...
A good summary by a postmodern of the perspective for which he stands: “Postmodernism is what you have when the modernization process is complete and nature is gone for good.” Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism (Duke, 1991), p. ix.
It appears that in Jameson’s definition “modernization” is the reduction of … More ...
Here’s some interesting background (I would skip the commentary) on the religious restrictions our troops must observe in Arab countries: Keep it to Yourself. Was “Islamic tolerance” ever much more than a stick to beat Christianity with?
A clever summary of the arguments for “gay marriage” and their intrinsic flaw: The Marriage of True Minds: A Dialogue. Why, after all, shouldn’t I be able to marry George Washington or the Bank of Nova Scotia?
Political tendencies, theological tendencies and ecclesiastical position often seem to go together. Here are some very sketchy — and not particularly spiritual — thoughts:
The wonders of the multicultural welfare state, chapter whatever: Anglican vicar attacked with bricks by mob of Asians trying to burn down his church. In addition to inheriting a variety of religious and ethnic animosities, it seems clear that these young people had grown up in a radically disordered social setting. The welfare state … More ...
What this means depends on what you bring to it: Afghan opium production is almost at the peak reached before the Taleban suppressed it. What the president of the World Bank draws from that is that “the failure to rid the country of its drug lords and poverty could undermine the West’s moral case for … More ...
“Inclusiveness” marches on. British local councils are increasingly banning hot cross buns as “offensive” to non-Christians. As one spokesman said, “We can’t risk a similar outcry over Easter like the kind we had on Pancake Day [Shrove Tuesday]. We will probably be serving naan breads instead.”
It’s hard to figure out how much of an … More ...
The relation between Christianity and politics is always going to be unsettled. Christ wasn’t married, didn’t own anything or live anywhere, didn’t join any organizations, turned down worldly power as a temptation of the devil, and believed in giving their due to God and Caesar. In spite of all that he got himself executed as … More ...