Today in the culture

Last updated on: December 19, 2007 at 7:36 pm By M.Z.

Pigeon Hole this: Successful woman worth $100’s of thousands irresponsibly conceives a baby she cannot afford. Woman with regular employment irresponsibly conceives child. Wealthy and high income earning woman bravely chooses to raise child rather than abort it. There are general lessons to be drawn by this misfortune despite 99+% of teenagers not being close to her financial or professional situation. Heck, many of us in our upper twenties and lower thirties are nowhere close to this yet most of us... Read more

This is certainly a good start….

Last updated on: December 19, 2007 at 6:13 pm By Iafrate Michael

From the LA Times: The Bush administration said Tuesday that it would make a 15% reduction in the nation’s stockpile of nuclear weapons, taking the overall inventory down to less than a quarter of its size at the end of the Cold War in 1991. A major effort to retire older weapons was accomplished five years ahead of schedule, allowing the new round of cutbacks, said Thomas P. D’Agostino, chief of the National Nuclear Security Administration. The additional cuts would... Read more

Ortega on the Idea of Life (Part 2.1)

Last updated on: December 19, 2007 at 5:26 pm By Policraticus

Part 1 The Coming Age As a conclusion to a piece laden with both irony and insight, which was written on the occasion of the centenary of Goethe’s death, Ortega writes: “There was a time when people believed that culture did not need roots. . . . It was only recently—yet it was long ago. . . .”[1] Such an utterance can only be made from the vantage point of a present looking back upon a distinguishable, discernable past. The... Read more

Being Open for Conversion

Last updated on: December 19, 2007 at 5:13 pm By Radical Catholic Mom

Most of us do not have conversion moments like St.Paul’s Road to Damascus or the Samaritan woman’s moment of realization. After both of their conversions, they went out immediately to tell everyone about what happened to them. I know for me, I tend to fight God’s will and it takes me a long period of time before I can fully accept what I am hearing from him. I am sympathetic to those who reject Church teachings on many areas... Read more

Huckabee: How dare you mention the reason why we celebrate Christmas?!

Last updated on: December 19, 2007 at 2:42 pm By voxnovablog

Ok, this is borderline ridiculous and absurd. Huckabee is now being attacked for mentioning in one of his Iowa TV ads that we should concentrate on celebrating “the birth of Christ” during this season. Meredith Vieira, from the TODAY show, asked him this morning if this was an attempt on Huckabee’s part to push religion on other people. She also mentioned “the cross” that stands in the background of his ad (which is actually a bookshelf) and asked him if... Read more

MacIntyre’s Revolutionary Proposal

Last updated on: December 18, 2007 at 6:42 pm By Matthew

I’m not sure if the philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre plans on writing anything for the upcoming elections, but a noteworthy essay he wrote for Notre Dame magazine back in 2004 bears repeating. In it he famously argues that the best vote for the upcoming presidential election is not to vote at all. In my view, this argument is all the more relevant in this current presidential election. It also depends on and moves from a collection of political principles that in... Read more

Bali– A Small Tentative Step

Last updated on: December 18, 2007 at 4:56 pm By Morning's Minion

The Bali agreement on global warming recognized the need for “deep cuts” in emissions, but avoided any firm agreement on number and targets. Instead, participants agreed to a roadmap for more talks by 2009, encompassing representatives of 187 countries, where the numbers will be hammered out. Key on the agenda will be the burden sharing between developed and developing countries. Even this vague conclusion was only accepted grudgingly by the US delegation, with public qualms emanating by the White House, and... Read more

An Endorsement for Ron Paul from Caelum Et Terra

Last updated on: December 18, 2007 at 4:35 pm By M.Z.

I have given slight hints in the past that I’m not a fan of libertarianism. Despite that, Ron Paul wouldn’t be the worst person to put into the Oval Office. If he were to receive the nomination, I would vote for him for President. A fellow with similar non-libertarian leanings has endorsed Ron Paul. Daniel Nichols was with the Catholic magazine Caelum et Terra before its demise. We now get to enjoy their occasional musings at their blog. A brief... Read more

Will Antonia Meo Become the Youngest Non-Martyr Saint?

Last updated on: December 18, 2007 at 8:45 am By Henry Karlson

Known by her nickname, Nennolina, Antonia was a young Catholic girl in 1930s Italy. She had a great faith which manifested itself in some unusual ways (including letters she wrote to God and the Theotokos). At the age of five and a half, she had one of her legs amputated because of a malignant tumor. It was too little, too late, and she died at the age of six. During that time she showed great, “heroic virtue,” which is now being recognized by the Vatican. I hope her letters... Read more

Baseball, cheating, and the law.

Last updated on: December 17, 2007 at 6:37 pm By Matthew

No doubt many of the readers of this blog have been paying attention to the Mitchell report on the use of steroids in Major League Baseball and its clamorous aftermath. As a lifelong baseball fan I was saddened by the report, for mostly sentimental reasons. The whole phenomenon of sports in American culture is a fascinating one. Some might see this as a marginal (or even indulgent) concern, with little to do with Catholic social teaching. On the contrary. Many... Read more