Para bailar la blogwatch,

Para bailar la blogwatch,

Se necesita una poca de gracia…

Christian Solidarity International: Attempts to refute charges that many “redeemed” (=bought and freed) slaves in Sudan and Mauritania were actually faking enslavement to get money. Haven’t read the documents yet, will report back when I get a chance, but for the moment I’ll just repeat the basic reason to mistrust CSI on this one: Supply and demand. If you pay for slaves, as the “redeemers” do (and as the US’s underground railroad did not), you create a demand for either real or fake slaves. Most likely both. CSI, therefore, bears the burden of proof here. Their claim is usually that since slavery is being used as a tool of war by Sudan’s vicious Islamist government against its mainly-animist-partly-Christian southern region, economics aren’t driving the slavers. OK, but economic motivations don’t disappear just because other motivations are present. Again, I’ll read these documents, but I’m entering with some skepticism. I know that many real slaves have been freed through CSI, and that’s obviously a wonderful accomplishment. But it’s necessary to investigate whether slaves can be freed in a way that doesn’t create incentives to enslave more people. In the end, I doubt that anything short of toppling the Khartoum government will stop enslavement in Sudan; I don’t know enough about Mauritania to say anything about it.

Michael Dubruiel: Second in an amazingly depressing series about Dubruiel’s seminary education. Essential reading in understanding the Catholic crisis.

Glenn Kinen: Interesting stuff on US vs. European consumption of OPEC oil.

Father Shawn O’Neal: Good post about trusting one another rather than being constantly on the lookout for lapses in orthodoxy. I think he’s being a little harsh on suspicious people–I get the impression that many of these people have been deeply disappointed by a series of Catholic institutions, and that’s why they’re wary. However, his general point is right.

Sursum Corda has become a must-read for me. Everything today is good: Graham Greene and the Eucharist; what Jesus’s knowledge means for our faith; just war vs. holy war; and much more. Only quarrel: A list of bad Western exports that equates weaponry, porn, and McDonalds is just silly. Explain to me why cheap, reliable, yummy food is a bad thing. But really, the site is awesome, go read it.

Amy Welborn: Lots and lots of St. Catherine of Siena on the Current Crisis.

And the Washington Post Magazine has an interesting article on the materialist world of The Sims.

Y arriba y arriba…