“Morally Exemplary Friendships”: Wesley Hill looks for examples

Last updated on: June 5, 2013 at 1:44 pm By Eve Tushnet

at First Things: …When I originally announced that I was working on a book about friendship, Ben Myers suggested I pick up Uncommon Friendships: An Amicable History of Modern Religious Thought by William Young. The book focuses on three pairs of friends—Franz Rosenzweig and Eugen Rosenstock-Huessy, Emmanuel Levinas and Maurice Blanchot, and Julia Kristeva and Catherine Clément, all of whom were influential twentieth century religious thinkers—and tries to show how their particular friendships were essential to the intellectual work they... Read more

From “Middlemarch”

Last updated on: June 5, 2013 at 1:18 pm By Eve Tushnet

And now within all the automatic succession of theoretic phrases–distinct and inmost as the shiver and the ache of oncoming fever when we are discussing abstract pain–was the forecast of disgrace in the presence of his neighbours and of his own wife. For the pain, as well as the public estimate of disgrace, depends on the amount of previous profession. To men who only aim at escaping felony, nothing short of the prisoner’s dock is disgrace. But Mr. Bulstrode had... Read more

“Where the Soul of Man Never Dies”

Last updated on: May 31, 2013 at 12:29 am By Eve Tushnet

Johnny Cash & Emmylou Harris. Sort of via First Thoughts. Read more

An Introduction to Me, For Readers of the Atlantic

Last updated on: May 30, 2013 at 11:01 pm By Eve Tushnet

Hi! Here’s some stuff which might interest you if you’re coming over because of this piece. If you want all of my recent writing on being gay and Catholic, try this tag. Some of my favorite pieces are “The Botany Club,” “To come first for someone,” “Romoeroticism,” “Homo No Mo’?“, and my exchange with Timothy Luke Johnson in Commonweal (plus a response to criticism). For less-gay Catholic posts try the “mackerel-snapping” tag. You may also want to check out the... Read more

It’s the Feast Day of St Joan of Arc

Last updated on: May 30, 2013 at 3:04 pm By Eve Tushnet

A great day to criticize the Church hierarchy! And also to burn dinner! Read more

“I’m Gay, But I’m Not Switching to a Church That Supports Gay Marriage”: me at the Atlantic

Last updated on: May 30, 2013 at 2:37 pm By Eve Tushnet

here you go… When I became Catholic in 1998, as a college sophomore, I didn’t know any other gay Christians. I’d been raised in a kind of pointillist Reform Judaism, almost entirely protected from homophobia; when I realized I was gay it was, if anything, a relief. I thought I finally had an explanation for the persistent sense of difference I’d felt since early childhood. This sheltered upbringing may help explain my sunny undergraduate confidence that even though I knew... Read more

“A New York Needle Exchange Program in Action”: Sarah Beller

Last updated on: May 30, 2013 at 1:38 pm By Eve Tushnet

at The Fix: Around 6 pm on a spring evening, I walk with Hector Mata through an area of northern Manhattan known as “the Zig-Zag,” sculpted by the off-ramps of the George Washington Bridge. We pass a playground, go down through a woodsy area, slip through a hole in a fence, and step into a clearing next to a highway. We see cushions, blankets, a makeshift tent and a near-human-sized doll. A real woman is sitting against a stone wall.... Read more

The Apocalypse Art Prize

Last updated on: May 30, 2013 at 1:23 pm By Eve Tushnet

bring the kids!: Benefactors of the Apocalypse Art Prize are hoping artists will respond to Thomas’ encouragement to explore an artistic language with a long shelf life as well as a source of subjects with endless opportunities “for imaginative representation.” Participation in the competition is free and open to all during the year 2013. Winners will be announce June 1, 2014 and awarded prizes according to the age category of the participant. 1. Participants 16 years and older compete for... Read more

“Friendship in Between ‘Romance’ and Loneliness”: Wesley Hill

Last updated on: May 30, 2013 at 1:19 pm By Eve Tushnet

blogs; did I post this already? It’s from a few months ago. Anyway I just re-read it and liked it a lot. Comments also worth reading! Early on in Mark Vernon’s insightful book The Meaning of Friendship, there’s this throwaway observation: “In TV soaps, the characters always have their friends to return to when their sexual adventures fail; lovers come and go, but friends remain.” Reading that sentence, I think not only of old favorites like Seinfeld and Friends but... Read more

“The 7-Step Guide to Our Idiotic Disaster-Relief Politics”: Matt Welch

Last updated on: May 29, 2013 at 10:05 pm By Eve Tushnet

at Reason; links aplenty: By now you should recognize the formula: 1) Natural disaster (tornado, hurricane, flood, earthquake, fire, snowstorm, heavy rainstorm, volcano) kills multiple people. 2) President (Obama, Bush II, Clinton, Bush I) vows to survivors that the federal government will “be with you every step of the way” in the rebuilding process. more Read more