“When I was a boy of 14, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be 21, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.“ — Mark Twain Wes Anderson is a hard case. As a director … Read more
The Bible, decked with jewels and precious metals, was placed just above waist level — the perfect height for us to bow and kiss it. And that’s what would have happened in the Orthodox church for which the holy book was created. But if we’d tried that here, our lips would have bumped into a … Read more
Last week, I declined to chime in on the pope’s new book — though I should probably hurry up, since I still haven’t gotten a copy, which means that my perspective on it is still fresh and unspoiled, marked by the disinterested objectivity that comes with utter ignorance. Instead I tried to use the cacophony … Read more
Strange. I don’t feel like a criminal. But Mark Twain, in his newly released Autobiography (published, as he wished, a century after his death), says, “I believe that the trade of critic, in literature, music, and the drama, is the most degraded of all trades, and that it has no real value.” Well, there goes … Read more
Catholics are obsessed with rules about what can and cannot be done. Contraception, abortion, women in the priesthood, even kneeling for the Eucharist are often subjects of controversy whenever Catholics discuss their faith. Thus, when Pope Benedict XVI made his now-famous comment in Light of the World about condoms, it was inevitable that his utterance … Read more
“On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country, to obey the scout law, to help other people at all times, and to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.” These are the words of the Boy Scout oath. Recited at scout meetings across the … Read more
On September 18, 1939, the public hospital in the port city of Dieppe, France recorded the death of a sixty-three year old woman, a Catholic painter of some reputation. Gwen John had traveled to this city from Paris only days before, carrying nothing except a notarized copy of her will and burial instructions. Augustus John, … Read more
In 1997, a group of arts enthusiasts established The Storm Theatre in New York City to focus on work that explores what it means to be human. Over the years, its repertoire has ranged from classical Shakespeare to Karol Wojtyla’s obscure plays to modern works reflecting life today. Zoe Romanowsky talked to Artistic Director Peter … Read more
At present, more rap stars have been killed than abortionists. I was sitting on an airport shuttle bus when I overheard two men in their thirties discussing the second murder of a rap singer. “People need to see that this isn’t just about music,” one said. I think I know what he means. Taste never … Read more
Last week, I pointed readers to the fascinating debate between Robert Spencer and Peter Kreeft on the subject of Islam, promising to offer my own reflections later. If you haven’t yet watched the debate, go bookmark it now, and when you sit down to watch it, prepare to be . . . unsettled. Pour yourself … Read more
No one will bear witness for the witness. — Paul Celan, poet and Holocaust survivor “To believe” has thus a twofold reference: to the person, and to the truth: to the truth, by trust in the person who bears witness to it. — The Catechism of the Catholic Church, 177 Elie Wiesel survived Auschwitz … Read more
In the House of Commons in the last week, of January, a Labour member for North-West Camberwell, Charles Ammon, spoke in favor of bombing Rome. He was a lifelong Socialist and Methodist lay preacher who would be raised to the peerage the following year as 1st Baron Ammon of Camberwell and then serve as chief … Read more
An hour after arrival in Minneapolis Philip Knight called on his client, but the man who answered the door was clearly a policeman. “Is Genevieve Magee at home?” “Who are you?” Though he was on a step below the man, Philip could see the top of his head. “I was going to ask you the … Read more
Who is to blame for the suicides of teenage boys “struggling with sexual identity” that have been so highly publicized in the last two months? If we are to believe many media sources, primary blame rests on bullying peers. But I wonder: Is the homosexual community — and the Catholic Church — ignoring the darker, … Read more
“Man is a political animal,” said Aristotle, meaning that man is that sort of living creature who thrives best in the context of a polis, a free and self-governing city state. St. Thomas Aquinas would take up this dictum of Aristotle’s and flesh out its implications for a Christian culture, but before we consider that, … Read more
Among its mournful fruits, Roe v. Wade has advanced the debasement of sex instruction in our schools. Over a quarter-century after the legalization of abortion, institutionalized “sex ed,” like a caustic agent, has eroded the innocence of our youth. Hence the dark coeval of our time: the murder of unborn children alongside the murder of … Read more
As the opening decade of the 21st century draws to a close, the world is confronted with a vast, ever-changing array of media platforms. Gone are the days when newspapers, magazines, and rabbit-eared television sets dominated our consumption of information. We now live in an age of fiber-optic television, cell phones as powerful as desktop … Read more
Last week I was privileged to moderate a debate between two of the best writers on religion in the English-speaking world, Boston College philosopher Peter Kreeft and Jihadwatch director Robert Spencer. How was I able to land two eminent speakers on the same night? Easy: I was their editor. Both Kreeft and Spencer contributed eloquent … Read more
Cybernetics — basically, the science of the brain qua computer — explains much more than we realized. They used to think schizophrenia was due to demons. Then it was bad parenting. Now some think it may be bad brain wiring. They used to think déjà vu (“Hey! I’ve been here before!”) was evidence of reincarnation. … Read more
A former student of mine, studying at Oxford, came across my essay on “Love and Dogma.” Many of his peers, he told me, when asked what their religion was, responded, “Love.” He would then astutely ask a further question: What did they understand “love” to mean? To them, love means nothing other than “absolute non-judgment.” … Read more
