You know, no matter how convinced I am that the world has gone completely nuts, there is always a story that makes me realize that I’d only skimmed the surface of the thought. I recall a friend of mine telling me of a fellow sitting across the aisle of an airplane and contentedly snipping his toenails during the flight. So…there’s this bus driver, and it’s rush-hour in the tri-state area. And all I can think is…what brought this on? Was... Read more
So, you may have noticed that for the week, I have written nothing. At all. Anywhere. For whatever reason, I have most uncharacteristically been doing battle, all week, with the devilish little blue megrim that is acedia. Actually, “doing battle” sounds romantic and pro-active. It would be more accurate to say I have been whining and unable to work and whining about being unable to work, and wandering around the house ineffectually, and walking the park feeding ducks, and missing... Read more
Loved this: Read more
That headline is too cute by half, and I know it, but given all the First Things columns I’ve written trying to wonder-out and puzzle-out and anticipate the subject of Modern Concepts in Sexuality (and where and how the Catholic Church’s teachings soar or fall flat, largely depending upon how they are taught), and the recent Supreme Court DOMA decision, it does seem like for any story I read — about anything — I read five touching on an aspect... Read more
What a day it is! With the release of Lumen Fidei and the announcement of canonizations of Blessed Popes John XXIII and John Paul II, today is all about continuity, cohesion and co-operation: the announced canonization of two modern popes; the release of an encyclical composed by two modern popes, “written with four hands” but with one heart; an unexpected moment when two modern popes sit side-by-side and ask our great angelic warrior, Saint Michael the Archangel, and the most... Read more
Saw a lot of fluttery twitter reaction to this last night (twitter is a bastion for fluttery reaction, as fits tweets and bird logos) with people freaking out. Facebook is more staid, marginally. Deacon Greg calls it a must see. Is it? Like Ed Morrissey at Hot Air, I was first skeptical. When people assured me it was true, I didn’t have to see it last night to go to bed understanding why I had felt compelled to write this,... Read more
A recent post dealt with the growing trend of (presumably adult) people, feeling entitled to express open displeasure at the public existence of children and their parents, or — as one contributor to the New York Times Magazine put it — “These wan goons. . .bringing their squealing offspring to brunch or for clogging up the sidewalk…” The same issue featured this letter to the editor, written by “Carolyn” in Maryland: Five years ago I faced an unwanted pregnancy. At... Read more
My image, 1986 And with that, Simcha Fisher speaks truth: I’ve had a woman hold a door for my double stroller and hiss, “You have too many children.” My friends have been lectured in their church parking lots about their irresponsible breeding behavior. They’ve been glared at for the high crime of bringing children into a supermarket. People get up and change seats with a groan of disgust when we come into a waiting room, as if the pretty little... Read more
Obama in Africa: We’re used to him preaching this stuff to our sinfully prosperous nation, but it seems odd to hear him tell a continent full of developing nations that they’d better temper their own aspirations and dreams, and not aim too high from their sphere. Ultimately, if you think about all the youth that everybody has mentioned here in Africa, if everybody is raising living standards to the point where everybody has got a car and everybody has got... Read more
My First Things column this week looks at the surprising way the words “liberal” and “illiberal” have been lately represented by the Supreme Court via the recent DOMA ruling, which found Justice Kennedy playing the over-simplifying Mike Stivic to Antonin Scalia’s blustering Archie Bunker. It wonders, too how long it will be, before the nation is reduced to the least complex of ideas: the good people versus the bad ones: Often referred to as the “most conservative” of the Supreme... Read more
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