There is great amusement in following the news when the pope is in town. One example of this are (or “is”?) the two stories I shared consecutively on social media. The New York Times led with “Pope Francis, in Washington, Addresses Poverty and Climate,” because that’s apparently a left of center thing to say. The National Catholic Register led with, “Pope’s First Words in English: Defend Religious Liberty, Marriage and Family,” because I guess that’s a conservative and right of... Read more
There is no shortage of commentary about importance of Pope Francis finally visiting the United States in the 78th year of his life. Some think American Catholicism has something special to offer. Others think American capitalism has something even more special to offer. American Evangelicals think that Francis has a lot to offer them as a leader. PBS thinks it’s the appropriate time to drag out the sex scandals for a riveting Newshour. Ross Douthat probably has another schism to... Read more
I can predict the media coverage of #PopeInUS will be as tired as Julius II in the painting above. Get the real news here. The MSM, NSM, MGM, BDSM and the PSM will not cover these things, because . . . they don’t know them. Let’s not beat around the Burning Bush: 1. The pope might be Protestant after all. If you don’t believe see Evangelicals talking about it. Oh sorry, I lost the link. 2. Benedict was much more theologically radical.... Read more
Books are not only bibliography fodder. They are also fodder for life. Sometimes books even give life as the word miraculously becomes flesh. I can think of several times when I’ve run up against the wall and a book has saved me. Off the top of my head I can think of Czeslaw Milosz’s The Land of Ulro, Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Mysterium Paschale, Simone Weil’s Gravity and Grace, Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain, Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead, Ernest Becker’s The... Read more
Catholicism is a strange religion, perhaps the most worldly of them all, if you believe theologian Larry Chapp (who still owes me a bottle of bourbon). There is quite a lot of anthropocentrism there too, since, as you might remember, God became man. Czeslaw Milosz sums it up compactly in his Visions from San Francisco Bay: All humanity, past and present, is, in truth, a Church persisting outside ordinary space and time, a Church opposed to the necessity built... Read more
Brian Kilmeade is a “Catholic.” Brian Kilmeade works for FOX News. If you think you’re not liable to get much insight from someone who doesn’t see this obvious contradiction, then you’re right. The story “Fox News Host Tells Pope Francis to Leave U.S.: He Doesn’t Belong Here: Capitalism is Our Savior” reports him as saying the following on air: Kilmeade: Yeah, I’m Catholic and he could stay home. Some of his comments just have no place. He’s in the wrong... Read more
I confess that my post on the White House guest list was a failed experiment in reader response akin to what Colbert used to do on Comedy Central. I wanted to see how many readers would find the title enough of a stumbling block to ignore the contents. Alternatively, I was curious how many readers would use their initial response to propel them into reading the post. A lot of people got stuck on the wording of the title, rather than... Read more
Today was a busy day, so this post will come quickly, late, and in some haste. I devoted the better part of the day to an interview for a job in the tech industry. We’ll see how it goes, but even if it stops there it was a pleasure to spend time with some really down-to-earth folks. It’s not strictly in my academic field, but my skillset is fluid enough to fit the job. I’d be happy to apply my... Read more
Work is killing you even when you’re not working. Be cultured enough to give me the leisure to work up to that. The Art of Manliness blog always paces around in the shadows of social media for me. Like the suspicious guy in the alleyway AofM keeps showing up in the feeds of my friends. I was always aware it was there, but wasn’t quite sure what it was doing, or really, whether it should be doing whatever it is... Read more
I do not feel competent to comment the 9/11. The events are both too near and to far for me to write about them in the manner they might require. The aftermath makes my gall rise. It is too easy to fall prey to such destructive sentiments. What happened with the historical politics of 9/11 is much like what Timothy Snyder says about the Holocaust in Black Earth and Bloodlands: There is a danger of pragmatically abusing the memory of... Read more
Cosmos The In Lost
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