There is no there there. Those who prefer condensed arguments, that was it. At various points one asks oneself a very simple question, “Why am I a Christian?” At different points in my life, I have answered the question differently. At one point, it was a simple matter of rebellion. At my evangelical point, it was for joy. That even carried over when I came back into the church. Well, I’ve experienced too much, and the health and wellness garbage... Read more
Some readers may recall that, about a month ago, one of our newer contributors, Pentimento, linked to a piece on IVF by Professor Tim Muldoon of Boston College. After reading the piece, I continued to browse through Professor Muldoon’s online corpus. Intrigued, I suggested to the other Vox Novans that we might want to have a look at some more of his work with an eye to inviting him to join our roster. As we read more of Tim’s pieces,... Read more
Sandro Magister, the Italian church watcher at L’Esspresso has an interesting article about calls for a “New Syllabus for the 21st Century.” The heart of the argument is a speech by Anthanasius Schneider, auxiliary bishop of Karaganda in Kazakhstan. The following is a central premise: In recent decades there existed, and still exist today, groupings within the Church that are perpetrating an enormous abuse of the pastoral character of the Council and its texts, written according to this pastoral intention,... Read more
I believe Simon Johnson is right – the financial industry has captured the entire political process, including the Obama administration. Ironically, Pius XI railed against this very threat in Quadragesimo Anno, but we don’t hear much about that in Catholic circles. But the Republicans take industry capture to a whole level, remaining wedded to an outdated and dangerous mantra of deregulation. Upon their latest electoral victory, they have asked industry what regulations they would like to dispense with. Auto makers... Read more
It is not uncommon to hear the (usually rhetorical) question, “Why is the Church so obsessed with sex?” The implication here is at least two-fold. First, sex is seen as a private issue that no one outside of a given relationship, let alone some “moral authority,” can say anything about; and second, those who ostensibly want to make the world a better place could find many other areas to more productively spend their energies. First of all, we need to... Read more
There has been a fair amount of praise for Obama’s speech from the right, which is a positive sign. But one criticism keeps popping up. Former Bush speechwriter Michael Gerson summarized it when he said that “you can either have a pep rally or a memorial service, you can’t have both at the same time”. Having watched the speech, I was a little puzzled about this. Then I realized that Protestant don’t do funerals like Catholics. There is no Mass... Read more
All the rage seems to be the Purell® Rite slowly being introduced to parish after parish. Typically it is performed before communion and then after communion. No, you won’t find it in the liturgical books. I think it started with Swine Flu, although I could be mistaken on that. The irony is that swine flu was spread in the air and not by hand to hand contact. Even given the severity of Swine Flu, there were only 3400 deaths in the... Read more
In my previous post, I tried to describe the “News” as a spectacle, an escape from reality. A few insightful commentators in that post pointed to the general obsession with the spectacular as something that seems to be deeply entrenched in our humanity. I think this is important to note, yet I do think there are degrees of difference that are not trivial. In other words, there are different degrees of spectacularity. In the case of the current spectacle we... Read more
This is one of the most remarkable speeches I’ve seen him give. I have my issues with Obama, but this was simply masterful. I hope this can bring some sobriety to the discussion. I believe we can be better. Those who died here, those who saved lives here – they help me believe. We may not be able to stop all evil in the world, but I know that how we treat one another is entirely up to us. I... Read more
The call for civility in public debate has become a cliché. The argument is straightforward: if people just made their arguments with less heat, less anger, and more reason, everything would be fine. We would all get along. But it’s not that simple. It is not a case of anger augmenting the argument, it is a case of anger replacing the argument. The rise in anger and apocalyptic language on the right tracks the quality of the argument inversely. How better to hide... Read more
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