The Lesson of Franz Jägerstätter

Last updated on: April 19, 2017 at 10:35 pm By voxnovablog

As noted by the Catholic Peace Fellowship, the Church has recognized Austrian farmer Franz Jägerstätter as a martyr for the faith, clearing the way for his beatification, and ultimately, his canonization. Jägerstätter was an Austrian farmer who refused to be drafted by the Nazis. He was advised to cooperate by his parish priest and his local bishop, on the grounds that he needed to support his family and that he had a responsibility to obey legitimate secular authority. But Jägerstätter... Read more

Should Catholics Follow the Utopian Vision of Modern Democracies? III-2 A Brief Discussion On the Current Situation and Its Development

Last updated on: June 8, 2007 at 5:06 pm By voxnovablog

We have seen that the framers of American democracy, for the most part, did not suffer any illusions so as to think it would possible to produce paradise on earth. Their views were highly utilitarian, but then again, so were the views of many of their critics. Most political theorists shared in common the belief that the best government is the one which produced the greatest happiness for the longest amount of time. Here John Adams and Joseph de Maistre... Read more

Abstention: Food for Thought

Last updated on: April 19, 2017 at 10:40 pm By voxnovablog

After reading MZ Forrest’s post on political apathy I remembered something of days past. If you are thinking of abstaining in the upcoming presidential elections (if you live in the U.S.) or any election at a local, state, or national level, think again. Think about Venezuela. Think about what has become of “The small Venice” (from which the name Venezuela comes from) in the past few years. Hugo Chávez has won the presidential elections twice (or more? I lost count... Read more

Political Apathy

Last updated on: June 8, 2007 at 3:43 am By voxnovablog

The political season is fast coming upon us. Some us openly question whether it ever left. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, we will be treated to endless apocalyptic commentary speculating the end of the world if Candidate X is elected. Priests and other preachers of the word will be looking upon this time with absolute dread or great anticipation. Since priests are human beings, they tend to span the spectrum of society. You will find a number of... Read more

Resolution of the Paradox of Self-Giving in the Mystery of the Trinity: The Analogy of Revelation

Last updated on: April 19, 2017 at 10:40 pm By voxnovablog

In my last posting I had suggested that I would tie together my previous post regarding Wojtyła and self-giving with my post on personhood and individuality. I know now that was too ambitious, and so presently I shall only bring the former to a conclusion. In my posting about self-giving we saw how one’s being is constituted through his act of self-giving. In turn, I supplied a brief survey of Wojtyła’s philosophical anthropology as a means of offering an account... Read more

On the Economics of Global Warming

Last updated on: April 19, 2017 at 10:40 pm By voxnovablog

Many thanks to Katerina for her excellent post on the science underpinning global warming. What really bothers me about global warming denial is that people feel free to simply ignore the overwhelming consensus of experts, and instead take comfort in the arguments a few contrarians. Would people be so willing to reject the received medical wisdom and embrace some peddler of “alternative healing techniques” on the grounds that the doctors are lying? Hardly, and when one’s health (or the health... Read more

Should Catholics Follow The Utopian Vision of Modern Democracies? Part III-1 Some Reflections on the Founding Fathers of America

Last updated on: June 7, 2007 at 7:34 pm By voxnovablog

The average American individual is generally satisfied with the sense of freedom they possess by living in the United States. It is certainly a philanthropic desire which makes many Americans want to spread the democratic way of life around the world. Few of them have taken the time to observe the realities of freedom; they enjoy the freedoms they posses while they are blind to those restrictions society places upon them which limits the actuality of this freedom. Someone raised... Read more

Marriage – contract or sacrament?

Last updated on: April 19, 2017 at 10:40 pm By voxnovablog

“Legislation was passed which did not recognize that either God or Jesus Christ had any rights over marriage—an erroneous view which debased matrimony to the level of a mere civil contract, despite the fact that Jesus Himself had called it a “great sacrament” (Ephesians v, 32) and had made it the holy and sanctifying symbol of that indissoluble union which binds Him to His Church. The high ideals and pure sentiments with which the Church has always surrounded the idea... Read more

Loving and Hating Freedom

Last updated on: April 19, 2017 at 10:40 pm By voxnovablog

One thing we hear constantly in America is how people love and appreciate their freedom. This ideal of liberty and freedom as enjoyed in a liberal democracy is often elevated to the status of a pseudo-religion, the result of the fusing of nationalism and Christianity, as noted in Michael’s posts. And of course, George W. Bush embraces a particular messianic notion of this “religion”, by attempting (with catastrophic consequences) to redeem and re-fashion the world with liberal democratic values– in... Read more