Sam Rocha’s Love Letter From a Sandwich
At a local deli I fell in love with a sandwich. This was a normal sandwich, panini-pressed, with a love letter inside.Here are the dijon-stained contents of that letter: My poor dear,Make me a sandwich! I am not hungry for food. I only want to become a layered delicacy. Make me flat and full, but not too full, with the light touch of your dull knife.I know we are mortals, but I want to be bitten and chewed, washed down with coke or other acidic drink. This is no allegory; I want to … [Read More...]
Wheaton Professor Claims White Privilege & Sexism Are Behind Larycia Hawkins Controversy
Once in a while you run across something that truly amazes you and leaves you speechless. Sometimes you read about something that embodies the kind of courage we admire in theory, but rarely embody in practice.What Professor Michael Mangis said today about the Larycia Hawkins controversy at Wheaton College is one of those things. I cannot imagine a professor at a secular university sticking their neck out in defense of their colleague like Professor Mangis did today. It is a great testament … [Read More...]
What’s History’s Most Unjust “Just War” Justification?
The concept of "Just War" originates in the writings of St. Augustine. He was perhaps the first Christian theologian to argue for active Christian participation in the military. The three centuries of theologians who came before him were highly skeptical about Christian participation in armed conflict. Some soldiers had to undergo extended penance (as in several months or even years) before they could enter back into full communion with the Church. This was fairly standard.There was always … [Read More...]
St. Kateri Relic Rescue: The Most Catholic GoFundMe Campaign Ever
Catholic "materialism" causes strange conundrums and very interesting GoFundMe campaigns.For example, the Catholic cult of the saints sometimes gives rise to causes such as this one:Rare St #Kateri reliquary found at liquidation sale! Donate to rescue b4 lost to the world. https://t.co/NUFA6P5uyWpic.twitter.com/MCAwPv6cWf — Saint Kateri Center (@SaintKateriCtr) January 23, 2016The Saint Kateri Tekakwitha Conservation Center's GoFundMe campaign looks legitimate and earnest: Help us … [Read More...]
The Roots of Protecting Life From Conception in the Catholic Enlightenment
The story of the conflict between science and religion during the Enlightenment is mostly false.Catholics are supposed to hate the Enlightenment. It is frequently said they are irreparably illiberal. Peter Gay's National Book Award winning The Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Paganism is representative of the outdated and ideologically-moviated standard scholarship. Recent historical scholarship says otherwise. Catholics contributed to Enlightenment science and Enlightenment science helped t … [Read More...]
Miracle at Cana: Drinking with the Bible in Hand
Karl Barth is said to have recommended taking "your Bible and newspaper, and reading both." He added, "But interpret newspapers from your Bible." Last Sunday's reading has me wondering whether the same could be said about your drinks. Our Irish priest launched into his Wedding at Cana sermon with, "I have no problem believing the Miracle at Cana." This sounded odd enough for an audience raised upon a demythologized worldview. Then came the punchline in the next sentence, "What's implausible is … [Read More...]
“René Girard never played the Great Man,” says biographer.
René Girard was an influential theorist, member of the Académie française, professor at Stanford since 1981, and a revert to Catholicism. Stanford University will hold a memorial service in his honor today. You can read his official obituary here and a brief summary of his thinking here. Cynthia Haven and I met over An Invisible Rope: Portraits of Czeslaw Milosz. I provided the translation for one of the Polish essays in the book. We met at the Milosz centenary in Kraków and have stayed in touc … [Read More...]
Abortion is Not a Conservative Issue (Millennials Know This)
Not too long ago Kristin Dombek wrote a widely-circulated favorable review of the book Defenders of the Unborn: The Pro-Life Movement Before Roe v. Wade in the New York Times.By my vague estimates Dombek is a Millennial (if not, then that news is all the more promising) who in the piece identifies with the pro-choice movement. These two biographical facts are important, because the tone of her review reflects larger trends.There is a whole genre of orthodox Christian writing that p … [Read More...]
Oh! You Pretty Things: Spotlight on David Bowie and Catholic Sex Scandals
NOTA BENE: I don't say anything here that would have caused shame to Bowie. Therefore neither he, nor his 70's rock star buddies, ever attempted to deny their consensual exploits with teenage boys and girls. On the other hand, the Catholic Church, especially figures like Cardinal Law who haven't been prosecuted, has plenty to be ashamed of despite systematic improvements in its policy.Isn't it a space oddity that David Bowie's final album, Blackstar, landed on the same day as the latest r … [Read More...]
God DOES Play Dice and Cheats?
I bet on completing a PhD in the humanities. Therefore, I am a betting man. As such Einstein's retort to quantum mechanics, "God doesn't play dice," always seemed a bit Puritan to me.According to Max Jammer, Einstein's bon mot was religiously motivated. Religion was one of the physicist's major intellectual obsessions outside of his day job of revolutionizing everything we know. Jammer even wrote a book, Einstein and Religion: Physics and Theology, about how Einstein not only engaged … [Read More...]
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