What happened to Islamic civilization? How did we get from Avicenna and Cordoba to Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda? In his new book, The Closing of the Muslim Mind: How Intellectual Suicide Created the Modern Islamist Crisis, Robert R. Reilly traces the problem back to a thousand-year-old theological debate over reason and the nature of … Read more
I sometimes think that Russia just sits around thinking, “Is there any way we can be just a little more grim today?” According to NPR’s Morning Edition, a subway mural project is stirring up some controversy: The Dostoevskaya station — which opened this summer in memory of Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky — met a fair … Read more
I missed this June article by Fr. James Martin, SJ, about how our spiritual lives are affected by the digital age. (The piece in The Huffington Post was adapted from his new book, The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything.) Other articles like this one have come out detailing the ways electronic media is changing how … Read more
Christianity is called the “Good News” because it brings hope — the hope of both forgiveness and everlasting life. That matters because we are fallen creatures, prone to sin and death. The New Testament warns of that false comfort zone where we say, “Peace and security,” for that is when Christ will come, like a … Read more
That’s the name of this fascinating little film from Will Hoffman and Daniel Mercadante, produced by their production company Everynone in conjunction with a Radiolab episode. It takes a while to figure out, and I had to watch it several times to “catch everything.” But it’s worth it. [video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0HfwkArpvU 635×355] (Hat Tip: Jeffrey Overstreet)
Time for some Friday morning links: Judge Vaughn Walker extends the stay on gay marriages in California until August 18th, at which point the defendants must either appeal the decision or gay marriages will resume. Meanwhile, Walker himself isn’t convinced that they will have standing to appeal the decision in the first place. Read an … Read more
If you are able, I urge you to join Bill Donohue at the Catholic League rally in New York City on August 26 at the Empire State Building. I will be there, I wouldn’t miss a chance to join the protest against the landlord who decided to pull the plug on the lights honoring Mother … Read more
Twenty years ago, the opposition of certain Catholic college leaders and professors to Pope John Paul II’s Ex Corde Ecclesiae was strident. They claimed the Vatican’s guidelines for Catholic colleges would encourage dictator-bishops to violate academic freedom. Non-Catholic faculty members would sue bishops and colleges for discrimination. Colleges would become second-rate catechetical programs. Many others … Read more
Despite a Gilbreth-esque voice in the back of my head suggesting that this topic is “not of general interest,” I thought I’d share one of the more unusual ways the members of the Susanka household keep themselves amused on Friday evenings: a little game I like to call “Melodic Homage or Hijacking.” First, a quick … Read more
Woman Sues Disney, claims she was groped, molested by Donald DuckMissing chef’s body found stuffed in a freezerPolice: Man suspected in semen attacks Shock as GOOGLE Spy Cams capture girl’s ‘body’ lying on pavement These are four of the headlines on The Drudge Report today. There will be more like them tomorrow… and the next … Read more
Fribourg is a small town on the border between French and German Switzerland. A visitor would not be exaggerating if he claimed that there was a church on almost every street corner. In that part of the world, it is not unusual to see so many churches. What did catch my attention, however, was St. … Read more
A while back on the blog, we had an interesting discussion about Catholic funerals and paring back the lavish accretions that seem a mandatory part of the modern funeral industry. By way of an alternative, several commenters mentioned St. Joseph’s Abbey in Covington, LA — a monastery that supports itself in part by building and … Read more
Michael Tanner, senior fellow at the Cato Institute and author of the excellent Leviathan on the Right: How Big-Government Conservatism Brought Down the Republican Revolution, has some advice for the GOP on the upcoming elections. Stop me if you’ve heard this before… Despite their repeated threats to stay home if Republicans deviated from a commitment … Read more
On January 29, the Catholic Mobilizing Network to End the Death Penalty (CMN) was launched. According to its executive director, Karen Clifton, the CMN was created “with the encouragement of the USCCB.” The support of the bishops’ conference is substantial. The Coordinating Committee includes both Kathy Saile, the director of the Office of Domestic Concerns, … Read more
The 20th, worst of centuries — if you reckon such things by as blunt an instrument as the number of civilians murdered by their own governments — was bloodied by that deadliest of things: bad philosophy. The intellectual errors of previous centuries had festered slowly in thick French and German books, still restrained by the … Read more
I read Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love three years ago. The best thing about it was Gilbert’s writing talent — she’s definitely got that. The book was entertaining in parts, but despite its rave reviews, there was nothing the least bit profound there. Although I enjoyed the sights and sounds of her adventures across the … Read more
From the Ohio Columbus Dispatch comes an odd tale of warring protests: Employees at a local strip club were tired of the members of a nearby church protesting outside their club every week, so they organized a protest of their own outside the church. Fed up with the tactics of Dunfee and his flock, they … Read more
To my eye, nothing is more powerful in films than the depiction of the love parents have for their children. Sometimes this love pops up in unexpected cinematic places. Unable to sleep this morning, still jet-lagged from my trip to the Holy Land, I watched what many consider to be Wim Wender’s masterpiece, “Paris, Texas.” … Read more
I recently attended the memorial service of a distinguished and much-loved retired judge. He was a devout member of the Jewish faith, and the service was held at a well-known London synagogue. There were some fine tributes to him: He served Britain with dedication, giving of his best and bringing honor to our legal system. … Read more
This statement from Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix on the federal court decision striking down Prop 8 is the strongest I have seen from any prelate. It will be published at the diocesan web site later today. Marriage: a “hang up” or God’s plan? Bishop Thomas Olmsted The misguided decision of Judge Vaughn Walker, striking … Read more