Inequality and Rising Discontent

Last updated on: December 14, 2010 at 5:44 pm By Morning's Minion

The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that rising inquality is responsible for so many ills in modern society. Tony Judt identifies inequality as lying behind so many of the pathologies that tear a rift across the social order – infant mortality, life expectancy, criminality, the prison population, mental illness, unemployment, obesity, malnutrition, teenage pregnancy, illegal drug use, economic insecurity, personal indebtedness and anxiety. These social indicators are all higher in more unequal societies. Is it really any... Read more

Wisdom’s Fire, Radiant and Unfading. Part XII: Non-Christians

Last updated on: December 14, 2010 at 6:16 am By Henry Karlson

Part XI The lover of Holy Wisdom Embraces what has been planted. Throughout the earthly kingdom, No truth should be rejected. The Logos has provided the seeds, The Spirit has brought the rain; Picking and gathering are our deeds, So that our reward, we can attain. Providence has not left anyone outside of Wisdom’s (creaturely and Divine) loving embrace. “Humanity forms but one community. This is so because all stem from the one stock which God created to people the... Read more

The Reality of Social Consequences

Last updated on: December 13, 2010 at 11:18 pm By M.Z.

Apropos with recent discussions here is what I perceive to be an assumed illegitimacy of social context. When one enters these discussions, one is required to accept the autonomous nature of acts unless one proves otherwise. This notion is somewhat queer given that the range of acts that are autonomous is practically nil. We have gone from damning social norms to believing they are absent. We have done this in the name of freedom. (more…) Read more

Judicial Activism Run Amuck

Last updated on: December 13, 2010 at 2:18 pm By Morning's Minion

Apparently, an activist George W. Bush- appointed judge has ruled the individual mandate unconstitutional. This comes after two Clinton appointees have reached the opposite conclusion. The right truly loves the term “judicial activism”, but what they actually mean is “judicial activism in areas I disagree with”. There can be no doubt that the most activist and imprudent rulings over the past decade or so stem from the right flank of an increasing partisan judiciary – Bush v. Gore, Heller and... Read more

Abba Pastor From the Paradise of the Fathers

Last updated on: December 13, 2010 at 10:22 am By Henry Karlson

Abba Pastor said, “Judge not him who is guilty of fornication, if you are chaste, or you will break the law like him. For He who said “do not commit fornication” said also “Do not judge”.” A brother asked abba Poemen, “If I see my brother sin, is it right to say nothing about it?” The old man replied, “whenever we cover our brother’s sin, God will cover ours; whenever we tell people about our brother’s guilt, God will do... Read more

The Pill and its Discontents

Last updated on: December 11, 2010 at 12:17 pm By pentimento

“I’ve got 44-year-olds who show up in my office after trying two months and say, ‘I don’t understand, my gynecologist told me I was fine,’” says [Dr. Jamie] Grifo. “Now, he didn’t say, ‘You’re going to be fertile forever.’ But they didn’t hear that part . . . And for these women, if IVF doesn’t work, it’s very hard to recover. They have to grieve and mourn and make a life. These women, the 44-year-olds, are the ones that struggle... Read more

On Bulgakov’s Two Trilogies

Last updated on: December 10, 2010 at 6:21 am By Henry Karlson

Fr. Sergius Bulgakov was one of the most important Orthodox thinkers of the 20th century. Yes, his works often received criticism by his peers, but on the other hand, he also earned their respect even in disagreements. At his funeral, Metropolitan Evlog gave him great praise, saying: You were a Christian sage, a teacher of the Church in the purest and most lofty sense. You were enlightened by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Wisdom, the Spirit of Understanding, the... Read more

Reasons I Don’t Homeschool

Last updated on: December 10, 2010 at 12:06 am By M.Z.

This is prompted by an article at Front Porch Republic offering shock at concerns about home schooled children and socialization. Yes, a communitarian site finds public schooling antithetical, go figure. Homeschooling children would have burdened my wife. While this impediment can be overcome, one shouldn’t gratuitously burden one’s spouse. For some it would have been a joyful burden, but not my wife. Public schools aren’t that bad. In fact they can be quite good at educating your child. My son... Read more

Nuclear Weapons and Pro-Life Politics

Last updated on: December 9, 2010 at 1:09 pm By Morning's Minion

As we all know, the Church categorically rejects the use of nuclear weapons in war. As Cardinal George said in his letter to Obama on the issue: “The horribly destructive capacity of nuclear arms makes them disproportionate and indiscriminate weapons that endanger human life and dignity like no other armaments.” Their use in war is intrinsically evil and can never be justified (and Catholics who defend their use are in the same moral boat as those who defend the virtues... Read more

Sex Slavery Defender as Committee Chair

Last updated on: December 9, 2010 at 12:09 pm By Morning's Minion

Ralph Hall from Texas (where else?) is slated to become chair of the House Science and Technology Committee. Of course, he is in the pocket of the oil and gas industry. That is a given. But it’s far worse. Remember Jack Abramoff and his toadies Tom DeLay and Ralph Reed? If you recall, Abramoff got his friends to support the right of his clients in the Northern Mariana islands to be able to retain “made in the USA” labels on the... Read more