Part 1: Nonviolence vs. The Just-WarPart 2: Justice vs. MercyPart 3: The War of Mercy(Disclaimer: I hope that this discussion can lead all of us to a closer look at Church teachings, and so I have tried to keep my thoughts focused upon the Magisterium’s teachings. It’s my hope that any discussion provoked by this post will maintain the same mindset. Though we can find truth in many places, why not go to its source – Christ and his Church?... Read more
Lest some of my readers think I went a bit overboard in my Memorial Day post that denounced American Christianity’s tendency to cuddle up on the couch with American civil religion, do check out these two posts about a new series of Bibles marketed for U.S. soldiers. The back cover of the bibles reads, “The book that defines true liberty and freedom for all time,” underneath an American flag. And do check out the list of “additional features” listed on... Read more
Some might wonder why a reactionary such as Joseph de Maistre (1753 – 1821), who lived so long ago, and in a time so different from our own, has any significant thought for us to consider today. It is because he represents, with Burke, one of the major “conservative” responses to the modern, “liberal” political project, that he can provide to us many questions to this project. Even if we do not agree with him, it would be rather foolish... Read more
I would like to broach the topic of Natural Family Planning because I find this is one area of Church teaching that is often ignored, misunderstood by both those who use contraception and those who do not, and under appreciated by the masses. I am a convert to Catholicism and it took a very long time before I could fully accept the Church’s teachings on “birth control.” I was raised in the birth control culture and the first time I... Read more
I’m in the last stages of preparing what I hope will be a very thorough exploration of Catholic thought on war and peace. I’ve spent the last four days reading encyclical after encyclical, so get ready for some Papa-lovin’! Michael Denton and Christopher Blosser assert that “war is necessary but not sufficient for peace,” and I think Catholic pacifists like myself have to step up to the plate and answer this assertion – not only for others, but for ourselves.... Read more
Readers familiar with the contents and themes of Vox Nova will recognize that oftentimes what rests at the heart of many of its postings is a concern for an authentic understanding of personhood, an understanding of the human being that is resistant to the notion of individualism that governs so much of the present age’s social thinking. Put simply, it strikes me that a great number of contributors capitalize on the distinction between ‘individual’ and the ‘person’ in order to... Read more
Last month at Reasons and Opinions, I discussed the issue of Sam Brownback and evolution. Out of the ten Republican presidential hopefuls, the Catholic senator was one of three to put up his hand when asked who did not believe in evolution. I’ll recap the basic issue here, and then address Brownback’s latest statement on the topic. How should a Catholic treat this topic? Well, there is no inherent conflict between faith and evolution, as long as boundaries are respected.... Read more
Of the three thinkers represented here, it is likely that most readers will have more familiarity with St Thomas Aquinas than Joseph de Maistre or Konstantin Pobedonostsev. While his comments do not directly respond to later political developments, his ideas have had a tremendous influence on that history, and what he says cannot be easily dismissed. Moreover, because later, modern critics of democratic societies such as de Maistre and Pobedonostsev elaborate upon ideas found within Thomas, it is best to... Read more
We live in an era of human history quite unlike any other; in the so-called most advanced nations, that is in the West, politics more than traditional religion defines the way most people perceive their place in the world. Supernatural beliefs, at best, are treated as secondary, private concerns of individuals and have no place in extending their influence into the public sphere. If there is some public wrong which needs to be fixed, one does not look for “religious... Read more
Andrew Sullivan is creating quite a stir on the internet with his post on the Gestapo’s interrogation techniques. Loosely translated as “enhanced interrogation techniques” they include food deprivation, hard beds, dark cells (sensory deprivation), sleep deprivation, and exhaustion exercises. Sullivan notes that the guidelines are quite strict about when these techniques can be used, and that the idea was to torture in a way that left no marks. Of course, if these “techniques” are familiar, it is because they are... Read more
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