tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33117522011-05-10T21:08:26.333-07:00Minute ParticularsMinute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comBlogger8001100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-80220233812198813962011-05-10T21:05:00.001-07:002011-05-10T21:05:43.842-07:00Hey, this thing still works.Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1091486627762372692004-08-02T13:56:00.000-07:002004-08-02T15:43:47.763-07:00 OUR SECOND CHILD
My wife and I were blessed with the birth of our second child, a beautiful girl, last week. Mom, baby, and big brother are all doing very well. Dad too.
Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1090387482989894282004-07-20T22:19:00.000-07:002004-07-20T23:12:21.696-07:00I'M NOT SORRY
Did you know that there is an "I'm Not Sorry" movement that encourages women to speak publicly and proudly about having had an abortion? I learned of this from this recent article (via After Abortion) which hints at the purpose of such public proclamations (and seems to mention the very same "selective reduction" of triplets in the post below): It's time to tap into the well of Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1090381356408632292004-07-20T20:38:00.000-07:002004-07-20T20:42:36.406-07:00 DARKENED CONSCIENCE
I initially didn't post about this eugenics article in the NYTimes a month ago because I thought there must be some intended irony that I missed. But when the NYTimes again ran a story (see below post) about eugenics without even a hint of irony or trepidation by those involved (I only get the Sunday edition so perhaps I missed others), I began to wonder what was going on Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1090363456970882122004-07-20T15:34:00.000-07:002004-07-21T16:51:39.883-07:00A SHOT OF POTASSIUM CHLORIDE
Probably stories that really happened with real characters and real dialogue are often submitted and published as thinly-disguised fiction. I wonder how often such accounts get rejected by an editor as, ironically, unrealistic and contrived? For example, how do you think an editor might react to the following actual dialogue and narration if it were submitted asMinute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1089935176414269632004-07-15T16:41:00.000-07:002004-07-15T16:54:19.740-07:00THE GREATEST DANGER WE FACE
I'm hesitant to comment on blurbs I've read from an article I haven't (it requires a subscription). So let's just take the "money quote," the quote (via NRO) that most people who have read the full article cite, in isolation and assume it's out of context and a distortion of the author's true intent. Let's just make it a hypothetical statement: The great conflict Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1089821233800708732004-07-14T09:04:00.000-07:002004-07-14T09:07:13.800-07:00 BY FAITH ALONE
Ales Rarus linked to this post which linked to this article on the pervasive false assumptions many make with regard to the Church and Galileo: Galileo's condemnation was certainly unjust, but in no way impugns the infallibility of Catholic dogma. Heliocentricism was never declared a heresy by either ex cathedra pronouncement or an ecumenical council. And as the Pontifical Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1089760546219433912004-07-13T16:15:00.000-07:002004-07-13T23:11:31.246-07:00 THEN WHAT?
This remark (via Open Book) by a professed Catholic politician, highlights something I haven't seen discussed much. When asked what he would do "if a priest refused him communion," Rep. William Lacy Clay, "a St. Louis Democrat who favors abortion rights" replied: "I would stand there."
Then what? Do ushers wrestle him to the ground and remove him? Do his fellow parishioners Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1089760479835762672004-07-13T16:11:00.000-07:002004-07-13T16:14:39.836-07:00 RIDICULE, REASON, AND REVELATION, ii
Fr. Jim of Dappled Things has a post about arguments for Zionism (or against anti-Zionism) that raises an important point:But if people are going to make a moral argument for Zionism (or against anti-Zionism), then it's going to have to be based on principles that everyone shares and not just "God told me so" or guilt by association.This seems a sensible Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1089665584209573832004-07-12T13:52:00.000-07:002004-07-12T13:55:59.683-07:00 NATURAL LAW
Aquinas's Treatise on Law examines natural law quite extensively. Here, in my opinion, is the heart of what is traditionally meant by natural law, from Aquinas's ST 1a2ae 94, 2 resp.: [T]he precepts of the natural law are to the practical reason, what the first principles of demonstrations are to the speculative reason; because both are self-evident principles. Now a thing is saidMinute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1089665527421617912004-07-12T13:35:00.000-07:002004-07-12T13:57:59.616-07:00 RIDICULE, REASON, AND REVELATION
Camassia has some fine thoughts, comments, and links on the issue of legislating morality. She links to an interesting post by Clifton that raises a number of important issues about legislating morality:The law is not mere convention--though clearly there are conventional aspects to the law. The law is much more powerful than that, as Plato, Aristotle and many Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1089345671924165242004-07-08T20:54:00.000-07:002004-07-08T21:01:11.923-07:00 ONE MUST FIRST ANSWER
As I stated in the previous post, I really do think most people think most abortions are morally repugnant. And I suggested that the political debate really ought to be about legislating abortion rather than the morality of abortion. But, of course, there are plenty of influential people who hold that abortion is not morally problematic. And issues like the much touted Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1089344174512721642004-07-08T20:06:00.000-07:002004-07-08T20:36:14.513-07:00 LEGISLATING MORALITY
This report generated a lot of buzz from bloggers:A Catholic who supports abortion rights and has taken heat recently from some in the church hierarchy for his stance, Kerry told the paper, "I oppose abortion, personally. I don't like abortion. I believe life does begin at conception."I am not pro-choice and have never understood the appeal. But I do think there is a Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1089046894098262372004-07-05T09:47:00.000-07:002004-07-05T14:34:29.170-07:00 RUNNING AROUND A CLEAR STATEMENT
Perhaps I'm obtuse. Here's what I thought was a pretty clear statement: Therefore, by the authority which Christ conferred upon Peter and his Successors, in communion with the Bishops-who on various occasions have condemned abortion and who in the aforementioned consultation, albeit dispersed throughout the world, have shown unanimous agreement concerning Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1088783307810168812004-07-02T08:40:00.000-07:002004-07-02T08:49:32.376-07:00 NEARLY 400 YEARS LATER
"Here, in a text explaining his discovery of what would later be understood as Saturn's rings, Galileo gives us two simple line drawings." 1613
"Taken on May 7, 2004 from a distance of 28.2 million kilometers (17.6 million miles) from Saturn."
The pictures from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn and Titan are spectacular.
Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1088723931941397552004-07-01T16:18:00.000-07:002004-07-01T16:18:51.940-07:00 WHILE THEY ARE BEING HONEST
TSO has done a very fine job with a new Flannery O'Connor blog. There are already some superb quotes, including:To love people you have to ignore a good deal of what they say while they are being honest, because you are not living in the Garden of Eden any longer.
Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1088723583501193692004-07-01T16:06:00.000-07:002004-07-01T16:23:53.550-07:00 THERE'S COOPERATION AND THERE'S COOPERATION
I should probably get into the habit of checking the "Latest News" section of the USCCB site. The last time I checked, this (via Santificarnos) list of interim reports wasn't available, though the main report was.
Here is, I think, an important section from one interim report:It is important to note that Cardinal Ratzinger makes a clear distinctionMinute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1087962559544180422004-06-22T20:47:00.000-07:002004-06-23T00:49:59.316-07:00 ANOTHER 390 WORDS
Catholics in Political Life is the most recent statement from the USCCB about, uh, Catholics in political life. I think it's interesting and, if I may say so, appropriate that the bishops have left the decision about how best to respond to professed Catholics who publicly disagree with Church Teaching to each bishop:The question has been raised as to whether the denial of Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1087962371632091602004-06-22T20:44:00.000-07:002004-06-23T00:48:48.306-07:00 THE FAMILIES THEY CHOOSE
Please answer the following:The slogan:Planned Parenthood helps women and men have the families they choose.isa) a pro-life statement mocking the eugenic philosophy behind Planned Parenthood
b) a Planned Parenthood approved and promoted sloganNow, I'm really not trying to be cute. I think I would have guessed "a" if I had come upon the slogan without any context. It Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1087614354975584982004-06-18T20:04:00.000-07:002004-06-19T08:19:23.266-07:00 FINE DISTINCTIONS
Here (via Disputations) is an interesting interview with Cardinal Georges Cottier. As I mentioned in a comment to the post on Disputations, I found the following bit especially challenging:The refusal to distinguish what is distinct leads to confusion and denies what maybe you wanted to defend in the first place. If everything is grace, then grace is no more. One of the Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1087613478421654082004-06-18T19:46:00.000-07:002004-06-18T19:54:27.386-07:00 BEING AGAINST IT
There's an old joke that goes something like this:A couple who run a farm can no longer go to Mass together because someone must remain on the farm at all times and they no longer have any help. So they decide to go at different times. After a few weeks of this, the wife starts to think the husband might be heading to the pub rather than Mass each Sunday.
The following Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1087600989271672892004-06-18T16:21:00.000-07:002004-06-18T19:41:05.160-07:00 TIME TO SLAP A MOESTEIN ON MY DRIVEL
Ha! I had a little post about atheism that I was going to plop onto the blog one of these days. But after reading this eloquent post I think I'll just slap a Moestein on my silly musings and move on. This was particularly nice:Faith that can be demonstrated from reason is not faith. The atheist and the Christian agree that the Christian faith cannot be Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1086972104405750362004-06-11T09:32:00.000-07:002004-06-11T09:41:44.406-07:00 TALKING THE TALK AND WALKING THE WALK
For me, this story presents the most explicit challenge to me about the morality of torture:Gäfgen kidnapped Jakob von Metzler on Sept. 27, 2002, as the boy was on his way home from school. The same day he suffocated Metzler, he demanded €1 million from the Metzler family for the boy's release, which they paid. The police, who had been observing Gäfgen forMinute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1086938579529263702004-06-11T00:21:00.000-07:002004-06-11T09:31:19.926-07:00 TORTURE AND THE LIVING TRUTH
That anyone might argue that in some circumstances torture would not be condemned by the Church is unbelievable. Tom of Disputations stomps out this lunacy in a recent post (scroll up for additional posts). What concerns me about those who think there are exceptions to using torture in Church Teaching, though, is that they seem to appeal to the ink (or pixels) of Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1086938124275108892004-06-10T22:51:00.000-07:002004-06-11T09:22:44.503-07:00 GOING TOO FAR
Timothy Radcliffe, OP is a former Master of the Order of Preachers. He was the 86th successor of St. Dominic. I've heard him preach, I've read quite a few of his homilies, and I've enjoyed a recent book of his. I, as if it could really matter, find his life and insights remarkable. I mention this because this purports to be the text of a recent homily of his (I say "purports to Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1086619241639815062004-06-07T07:37:00.000-07:002004-06-07T07:47:37.526-07:00 TO SHAPE THE SECULAR WORLD
I had a high school algebra teacher who would keep things lively by calling on students randomly and have them answer a problem we were looking at in the textbook. If a student mumbled something outrageous the teacher would stop, make an exaggerated look at his book, look at the student, look again at the book and ask:Are we looking at the same book?!After reading Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1086328504613660962004-06-03T22:49:00.000-07:002004-06-07T07:47:21.893-07:00 LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT
The problem with the increasingly popular love-it-or-leave-it approach to publicly admonishing Catholic politicians is that it's simplistic and, well, silly. And as I've pointed out before (here and here), I think it does a lot of damage to efforts to evangelize smart, sober, serious people. It makes the Church sound like a club or perhaps some exclusive and delicate Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1086105621072097882004-06-01T08:57:00.000-07:002004-06-01T09:00:21.073-07:00 TESTING THE LOOP-THE-LOOP
My son, who will soon be two and a half, was in the other room playing with his Hot Wheels set. We like to set it up in different configurations and then see which cars can get through the course and which can't. Sometimes we just set up a jump and see which car can jump the farthest.
Anyway, I was in earshot while he was running cars through a loop-the-loop Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1085595964341077332004-05-26T11:25:00.000-07:002004-05-26T11:29:54.596-07:00ACTIONS THAT OBLITERATE THEIR MORAL FRAMEWORK
An immoral response by victims of an injustice doesn't absolve the perpetrators of the injustice from culpability. Here's a silly and therefore simple example: If I steal an apple from a grocer and the grocer shoots me as I leave, my unjust act of stealing doesn't suddenly cease from being unjust. Let's assume I'm not starving. My action of stealingMinute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1085550077849754132004-05-25T22:41:00.000-07:002004-05-25T23:08:17.810-07:00THE MOESTEIN
I have a new icon I'm going to start using when I link to something that makes my little musings seem trite by comparison:
Here's what I mean. There's a typically fine post over on Disputations that starts with these words of St. Catherine of Siena:Oh most gentle Love, it seems to me You are showing that the truest sign people are dwelling in You is that they follow Your willMinute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1085108076100364892004-05-20T19:53:00.000-07:002004-05-20T19:54:36.100-07:00 A BIT STRESSED THESE DAYS . . . AND YOU?
I don't generally take Internet quizzes or tests, but here's a Stress Test that only takes a minute and it's quite good.
Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1084977141616962942004-05-19T07:32:00.000-07:002004-05-19T22:17:41.956-07:00 WHEN APPEARANCE AND POTENTIAL AREN'T ENOUGH
The other fragment purported to be from an article in Harpers Magazine from October 1987 with the title, "We Do Abortions Here," that I came upon and first mentioned in the post below is the following:We make the powerful assumption that the fetus is different from us, and even when we admit the similarities, it is too simplistic to be seduced by formMinute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1084895113563578322004-05-18T08:45:00.000-07:002004-05-18T08:54:28.526-07:00 WANTING TO HAVE READ AND WANTING TO READ
A papal encyclical seems to me to be something that many want to have read but don't want to read. Though that Twainish twist on it might not work since it's possible that there isn't a desire by many to "have read" recent encyclicals. I want to have read recent encyclicals carefully and with deep comprehension. And I want to read them carefully and Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1084893457394646432004-05-18T08:17:00.000-07:002004-05-18T08:59:51.776-07:00 MINDING MY OWN BUSINESS . . . SORT OF
Disclaimer
I suppose that Bishop Michael J. Sheridan's A PASTORAL LETTER
TO THE CATHOLIC FAITHFUL OF THE DIOCESE OF COLORADO SPRINGS ON THE DUTIES OF CATHOLIC POLITICIANS AND VOTERS (via Open Book) is none of my business. I'm not one of the "Catholic faithful of the diocese of Colorado Springs." Unlike a papal encyclical, which usually includes "lay Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1083864754722306512004-05-06T10:32:00.000-07:002004-05-06T10:37:28.060-07:00 UNTIL ITS CLINGING POWER SLACKENS
There was apparently an article in Harpers Magazine from October 1987 with the title, "We Do Abortions Here." I say "apparently" because I haven't seen the original article and I've only learned of it from various fragments quoted online in various places (if you have a link to the article online, let me know). I believe the author worked as a nurse in an Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1083368884533535402004-05-04T16:15:00.000-07:002004-05-04T16:28:21.093-07:00 ALWAYS A DISASTER
I mentioned most of what follows in a post over a year ago. I was reminded of it when I wrote the previous post.
A war can be a just war; a war can be morally defensible; a war can be the highest good amid various concrete choices. But war is a complete failure and breakdown of human society. It is a disaster for all involved, even if it's the only option left.
My son Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1083368254469831062004-05-04T16:11:00.000-07:002004-05-04T16:19:03.403-07:00 EASE UP ON THE RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION
Refrain:There is no excuse whatsoever for the behavior of US soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners. No excuse. None.
That said, I will say I'm puzzled at some of the comments on this story. In particular, I have in mind the comments that go something like this: How can any soldier not think abusing prisoners is wrong? It goes against our human nature! It goes Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1083617430904581882004-05-03T13:50:00.000-07:002004-05-03T13:54:06.513-07:00WON'T HAVE NIXON TO KICK AROUND ANYMORE
Someone's probably already made this quip, but . . ."You won't have Nixon to kick around anymore, because, gentlemen, this is my last press conference and it will be one in which I have welcomed the opportunity to test wits with you."*Sorry 'bout that. But after reading that Peter Nixon is closing down Sursum Corda I just couldn't resist.
Peter's blog hasMinute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1083194978548314492004-04-28T16:29:00.000-07:002004-04-30T14:07:22.090-07:00MORALITY, LEGISLATION, AND LESSER EVILS
Disclaimer
I worked through (there are a lot of links) the Abortion Is The Foremost Issue post over on Thrown Back since it seemed highly recommended on a number of blogs. Tom of Disputations has a fine response to the post.
Two things are missing for me in Fr. Rob's post and in similar arguments: 1) a distinction between what is immoral and what can Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1083194385694950512004-04-28T16:19:00.000-07:002004-04-28T16:29:12.186-07:00 HERETICS AND POLITICS
Disclaimer
Okay. Some kind bloggers linked to my objection a while back to our calling anyone "Catholic in Name Only" [CINO]. After reading some of the posts and comments that directly or indirectly respond to me, I'm convinced that:a) some folks are a little too tightly wrapped
b) I should have followed up sooner about what I meant by "poisoning the waters" in the post Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1083194231363351852004-04-28T16:17:00.000-07:002004-04-28T16:29:48.966-07:00 A DISCLAIMER
I think I might link to the following disclaimer before any post that could be construed as political:
Political Disclaimer: This is not a political blog. I am either going to vote for Kerry or Bush in November (see here for why I wouldn't abstain or vote for someone who couldn't possibly win). I don't now know who it will be and neither do you. I am not consciously trying to Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1083193775057045082004-04-28T16:09:00.000-07:002004-04-28T23:31:08.060-07:00 WHO'S GOING TO GRAB THE WHEEL?
A while back I proposed the following image:
Picture the United States as a very big ocean liner. . . . I think an airplane, train, or car wouldn't quite work because I need an image that suggests the enormity of the country, the momentum of national policies, and the general stability of a democratic country centered on freedom and the rule of law that enables Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1082957027167068232004-04-25T22:23:00.000-07:002004-04-25T22:44:21.296-07:00 NO LONGER MY TEACHER
I've always liked Richard Rodriguez's reports on the radio, the few things of his I've read, and the couple of speeches I've heard him deliver. His recent essay, though, stumped me somewhat. At one point in the essay he writes: I find myself in a one-sided battle against various bishops of my church, and at what I perceive is their abrogation of moral example. I do not Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1082588302010893892004-04-21T15:58:00.000-07:002004-04-22T11:18:20.966-07:00 MORAL SCOPE
The question of whether one can in good conscience lie to someone to protect the life of an innocent person (lying to a Nazi about Jews hidden in one's home seems the standard example) is often mishandled. The lie is either dismissed as trivial when compared to the good of protecting an innocent person, or it is considered a morally bad thing to do, but it should be done anyway Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1082434292593925032004-04-19T21:11:00.000-07:002004-04-19T23:41:45.093-07:00 CORPSES, WORDS, AND LYING
The NY Times Magazine has an essay by William F. Schulz, the executive director of Amnesty International U.S.A. I thought he ended with an interesting statement: Human rights emerge out of the fact that all people know misery. During the Spanish Civil War, Stephen Spender was a fierce opponent of General Franco and the Fascists. Reflecting on the war some years later,Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1082387291428218102004-04-19T08:08:00.000-07:002004-04-19T08:11:39.873-07:00DOUBT AND DESIRE TO SEE (from last year)
Sunday's Gospel portrays the well-known incident of "Doubting Thomas." It seems Thomas is chastised, or perhaps that's too strong, maybe chided(?), for his desire to see Christ and actually touch him before he will believe:Jesus said to him, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." (Jn. 20Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1081870816619416232004-04-13T08:40:00.000-07:002004-04-13T08:48:10.750-07:00 CATHOLIC IN NAME ONLY
A columnist recently claimed that John Kerry is "Catholic in name only." The tenor of it made me go check the bio link of the columnist. Ha! He's younger than I am. That really means nothing, but it makes me feel a little better about the insuppressible and condescending smile I get just thinking about his posturing, his huffing and puffing and finger pointing.
You mightMinute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1081554148652899572004-04-09T16:42:00.000-07:002004-04-13T08:26:44.700-07:00 AN EXTREME CONVERSATION
The Gospel of Luke has a conversation not found in the other Gospels:Now one of the criminals hanging there reviled Jesus, saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us." The other, however, rebuking him, said in reply, "Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we receivedMinute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1081519384943994052004-04-09T07:03:00.000-07:002004-04-09T07:06:58.046-07:00 THESE FEET WERE MEANT FOR WASHING
Old Oligarch (via Summa Contra Mundum) has a nice post on the gesture of Christ washing the feet of the Apostles. Here's a small clip:Christ is preparing His apostles to be His first priests. Christ chooses a symbol of great self-abasement to underscore the nature of this priesthood in imitatio Christi. Sharing in Christ's priesthood means sharing in his Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1081489201084709372004-04-08T22:40:00.000-07:002004-04-08T22:42:46.420-07:00 THE MOST PRECIOUS POSSESSION
The Eucharist, as Christ's saving presence in the community of the faithful and its spiritual food, is the most precious possession which the Church can have in her journey through history. Ecclesia de Eucharistia
Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-108139872944604972004-04-07T21:32:00.000-07:002004-04-07T21:44:05.996-07:00 THE GOOD SHIP U.S.A.
Here's an image I might refer to more.
Picture the United States as a very big ocean liner; we can call it the USS . . . , um, I guess just "USS." I think an airplane, train, or car wouldn't quite work because I need an image that suggests the enormity of the country, the momentum of national policies, and the general stability of a democratic country centered on Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1081391179643212492004-04-07T19:26:00.000-07:002004-04-07T19:30:54.140-07:00 SPEAKING OF THREE BOOKS
TS O'Rama directs us to an article in which Rev. James V. Schall, S.J., recommends three books:Let us suppose that someone wanted to read, say, three books that would explain in clear, profound, and incisive terms the whole structure of human life, its destiny, and how it stands before God and the world. What books would I recommend? . . .
I would recommend three Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1081291502500373232004-04-06T15:45:00.000-07:002004-04-06T15:47:45.436-07:00 THE FETUS EXSANGUINATES
Here's (via Open Book) a link to the notes of someone attending a trial in New York that involves a challenge to the recent ban on partial-birth abortion:There are three trials underway in U.S. District Courts in California, Nebraska, and New York involving a challenge to the national ban on partial-birth abortion, which was approved by Congress last fall and signed Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1081265120309575032004-04-06T08:25:00.000-07:002004-04-06T08:34:50.090-07:00 A COW POPE
A cow pope? (via The Corner):The Cow Pope’s mission is a call to the faithful and to the Vatican to reexamine what it truly means to treat “the least” of God’s creation . . . .
The Catholic Church pledges, after Christ's example, to have a preferential love of and devotion to the destitute, the abused, and the neglected. . . .
God created every animal with the capacity for pain Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1081228185263166232004-04-05T22:09:00.000-07:002004-04-05T23:19:05.216-07:00CONSCIENCE AND CATHOLIC POLITICIANS
I've gotten into a little loop of links from blogs I don't normally read. This post over on The Corner (via Andrew Sullivan) raises the issue of Kerry's Catholicism:Here's Kerry taking Communion at a Protestant church. Here's what PJPII reiterated on this matter in his encyclical ECCLESIA DE EUCHARISTIA: "The Catholic faithful, therefore, while respecting Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1081226697965687912004-04-05T21:44:00.000-07:002004-04-05T22:36:31.640-07:00 THE TIME IS OUT OF JOINT, iii
There've been some stories lately that the hunting of baby seals is resuming. According to this report:Commercial hunting of baby seals is back and even bigger than when it stirred a global outcry two decades ago.
Horrified by the clubbing of adorable infant harp seals, animal rights advocates swayed public opinion against the hunt. Environmentalists joined the Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1081143942762700932004-04-04T22:45:00.000-07:002004-04-04T22:49:26.250-07:00 GRINDING BOTTOM
This critique of The Atlantic Monthly's State of the Union segment of a few months ago is brutal. It has some of the funnier lines I've read in a review:This 33,000-word barge grinds bottom for 40 pages, unimpeded by wit, verve, originality, or any of the other attributes we associate with successful political rhetoric or good magazine journalism. If you can imagine a dozen Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1081143709043881292004-04-04T22:41:00.000-07:002004-04-04T22:46:54.326-07:00 UNITY AND CALCULATING EASTER
Reflections on pursuing a common date for Easter (via Ut Unum Sint):This year Christians in East and West will celebrate Easter/Pascha on the same day, 15 April - a precious gift at the start of the new millennium. On this, Christians around the world are agreed. . . .
The consultation recommended that the principle of calculation recognized by both Eastern and Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1081143509789787962004-04-04T22:38:00.000-07:002004-04-04T22:52:29.873-07:00 A PROCLITIVTY FOR THE LETTERS A, C, G, & T
If you're browsing the works available on Project Gutenberg, you might be surprised at what you find under the H Index just a bit past "Hugo, Victor" and a little before "Hume, David." The author has a proclitivty for the letters A, C, G, and T and the opening paragraph really didn't hook me, but what do I know? See what you think; this is from the Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1081036330044377172004-04-03T15:52:00.000-08:002004-04-03T16:03:23.856-08:00 WHERE'S THE ORIGINAL?
A funny metablogging inquiry (uh, via Kevin Drum I think, or was it Matthew Yglesias via Amy Welborn?): There is nothing outside the blog
I coined the title. Here's my proof. But already my proof calls into question the statement itself -- is not Google outside the blog? . . .
But what of the news articles and punditry on which bloggers comment? A story of significant Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1080948481538698082004-04-02T15:28:00.000-08:002004-04-02T15:40:26.403-08:00 A MEMBER OF THE SPECIES HOMO SAPIENS
I found some interesting language in this recent story about the legal rights of an unborn child:The Senate approved legislation on Thursday making it a separate offense to harm the fetus in a federal crime committed against a pregnant woman . . . .That's not the interesting language.
But try this on:Opponents of the proposal, while saying they Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1080946942984311782004-04-02T15:02:00.000-08:002004-04-02T15:06:07.360-08:00 I'D OF BEEN BORN SOMEWHERES
As an answer to a recent query, I give you the following from Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses:The night was almost warm. He and Rawlins lay in the road where they could feel the heat coming off the blacktop against their backs and they watched the stars falling down the long black slope of the firmament. . . .
Rawlins propped the heel of one boot atop the Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1080946568725407072004-04-02T14:56:00.000-08:002004-04-02T15:45:45.920-08:00 THE TIME IS OUT OF JOINT, ii
The other day I was getting my haircut when a boy who must have been six or seven sat in the chair next to me and proceeded to give the barber instructions on how to cut his hair:I want this much off the top, but leave it like this here, don't cut much on the back, keep the sides like they are . . . I chuckled (quietly) and thought about how I not only didn't get toMinute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1080839757642397222004-04-01T09:15:00.000-08:002004-04-01T09:25:58.670-08:00 WAYNEE, WEEDEE, WEEKEE
Dappled Things has a nice post with a link to the Society For The Oral Reading Of Greek And Latin Literature (SORGLL) where you can hear some of the classics read by those who claim to know how it might have sounded. SORGLL also provides a link to this page with additional audio clips.
I'm no classics scholar and I actually don't try to play one on this blog. Still, Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1080748316022512302004-03-31T07:51:00.000-08:002004-03-31T14:07:43.793-08:00 THE YEAH-BUT TEST
Last August I mentioned my "Yeah-But Test":
The Yeah-But Test works like this: whenever I read or hear someone who seems really insightful in areas I don't know much about (it happens often), I look for or elicit comments on something I do know something about.Yeah, you say: We can either decide that (i) nonliteral contraposition is sometimes though not typically Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1080747862164409832004-03-31T07:44:00.000-08:002004-03-31T07:47:21.903-08:00 NOTES IN THE KEY OF TWO-YEAR-OLD BOY
My two-year-old son and I were feeding the ducks at the park when he decided to give some duck food to some flowers and a couple of trees nearby. He gently placed the grains in each flower and at the base of the trees. Why not?
The incident reminded me of one of my favorite passages from Chesteron . . . okay, it reminded me of something Chesterton once Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1080602126193529962004-03-29T15:15:00.000-08:002004-03-29T15:20:26.420-08:00 WHEN IT COSTS SO MUCH
I am, like Ivan Karamazov of The Brothers Karamazov,[F]ond of collecting certain facts, and, would you believe, I even copy anecdotes of a certain sort from newspapers and books, and I've already got a fine collection.I don't really have a "fine collection," but every once in a while a story grabs hold of me and I can't shake it. Probably this happens to all of us.
One Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1080571268236935522004-03-29T06:41:00.000-08:002004-03-30T18:49:30.093-08:00 NO ROOM FOR WHAT'S MISSING
There was something about this article by Sallie Tisdale, an article I happened to read on the Feast of St. Joseph (why that's relevant will be evident shortly), that seemed out of place, that didn't quite work in the midst of such moving prose. The article starts out like this:Four years ago he was born and every--thing changed. Daily we leave jobs, friends, lovers,Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1080408991899594322004-03-27T09:36:00.000-08:002004-03-27T12:15:01.966-08:00 MORNING GREETING
Have you ever, pre-coffee, stumbled into the shower and been greeted with something like the above mad scrawling? Swiftly your mind races for clues to this bizarre scene. Why does the scrawling only reach up to about three feet or so and then stop as if prevented by some invisible force? While the spelling is pretty good, and the color coordination very nice, why the odd Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1080401452100865152004-03-27T07:30:00.000-08:002004-03-27T07:33:57.590-08:00 THE MINUTE PARTICULARS OF PUNCTUATION
Interesting little article on punctuation:Those of us who work on magazines – writers and editors and designers alike – are compelled to grapple with big stories and big pictures that depend for their impact on attention to minute detail. Professionally, if not temperamentally, we subscribe to the "for-want-of-a-nail" school of history; we believe that Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1080183811842981062004-03-25T07:03:00.000-08:002004-03-26T07:23:13.890-08:00HOW SHALL THIS BE? (originally posted March 25, 2003)
Happy Solemnity of the Annunciation. Mary's response to the angel Gabriel provides us with a profound insight into the nature and inner workings of faith. I once heard a very smart priest compare Mary's response with Zechariah's response to the same angel. We get a glimpse of the integrity of each response from the reaction of God's messengerMinute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1080176557774306642004-03-24T17:02:00.000-08:002004-03-27T09:42:39.250-08:00 ONE NATION UNDER ESSE IPSUM SUBSISTENS
As always, How Appealing has an unbelievable roundup of opinions and reports on the "Under God" Supreme Court Case. I might add my meager musings on this case a bit later.
Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1080082962772048802004-03-23T15:02:00.000-08:002004-03-23T19:50:18.140-08:00 MY SUBSTITUTE FOR PISTOL AND BALL
There's something in Flannery O'Connor's statement about adult baptisms:All voluntary baptisms are a miracle to me and stop my mouth as much as if I had just seen Lazarus walk out of the tomb. I suppose it's because I know that it had to be given to me before the age of reason, or I wouldn't have used any reason to find it.that seems in some way applicable on Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1080081846273817132004-03-23T14:44:00.000-08:002004-03-23T14:46:50.123-08:00RESOLVABLE INTO SIGHT AND REASON
Speaking of Disputations, there's an interesting discussion in the Comments between Rob and Tom about, well, quite a few things. One thing that caught my eye is the definition of “belief” as a “participation in the knowledge of a knower,” a description that I first ran across in Josef Pieper's works, though I think it's implied throughout the Tradition. To Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1080080750788520772004-03-23T14:25:00.000-08:002004-03-23T14:28:56.090-08:00 THEY JUST DON'T WRITE LIKE THAT ANYMORE
I finally received my copy of A Key to the Doctrine of the Eucharist from Zaccheus Press, the text, you'll recall, that's recommended for the Lenten program offered at Disputations. It's deep and dense and so far seems well worth the effort it takes to follow Abbott Vonier. My favorite line so far:I do not apologize to my readers for making this appeal Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1080057454542953592004-03-23T07:57:00.000-08:002004-03-23T08:19:13.123-08:00TRYING ON A BELIEF
I noticed this from Crooked Timber a while back and forgot to post it. It's a discussion about. . . using religious reasons that one doesn’t believe to convince people who do believe them to change their political views.I don't think it's really possible via a "thought experiment" for a nonbeliever to "try on" a belief. To admit this seems to water down "belief" and turn Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1079996829832805322004-03-22T15:07:00.000-08:002004-03-22T18:30:30.936-08:00 THE RIVER OF TIME
If the first thing that occurs to you when you see "Styx" is "a mythical river of Hades that the souls of the dead had to cross on their journey from the realm of the living," best move on to the next post.
I turned on PBS the other night and was greeted by someone who looked like Burt Bacharach singing "Mr. Roboto":Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto, domo...domo
Domo arigato, Mr. Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1079899200410746252004-03-21T12:00:00.000-08:002004-03-21T12:02:27.840-08:00 ONE YEAR AGO
I've plopped a few posts below from this time last year in light of the one-year anniversary of our invasion of Iraq. Much of what I discuss, I think, remains relevant and in urgent need of sober debate. Some of us continue to protest the decision to go to war; some are dazed by the massive failures of the past year; and some remain firmly resolved that going to war was necessary.Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1079848110349963192004-03-20T21:48:00.000-08:002004-03-20T21:51:44.950-08:00A STRAIGHTFORWARD MANNER (originally from March 2003)Flannery O'Connor tells an amusing anecdote about Henry James:It's said that when Henry James received a manuscript that he didn't like, he would return it with the comment, "You have chosen a good subject and are treating it in a straightforward manner." This usually pleased the person getting the manuscript back, but it was the worst thing Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1079846974714784612004-03-20T21:29:00.000-08:002004-03-20T21:51:25.543-08:00"DISAGREEMENT IS NOT AN EASY THING TO REACH" (originally from March 2003)This wonderfully counterintuitive statement from John Courtney Murray has been highlighted again by recent debate; this time it's the debate on exactly how Catholics ought to react to a statement on a current situation by bishops or the pope. I'm amazed at some of the negative responses my recent post, COLD COMFORT, receivedMinute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1079846384467859332004-03-20T21:19:00.000-08:002004-03-20T21:23:17.890-08:00COLD COMFORT (originally from March 2003)
It's interesting that one of the most cited texts from the USCCB on Iraq by those who disagree with the bishops is the following:People of good will may differ on how traditional norms apply in this situation. The gravity of the threat and whether force would be preemptive are matters of debate, as are the potential consequences of using or failing to Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1079804135206713152004-03-20T09:35:00.000-08:002004-03-20T09:38:25.810-08:00 THE TIME IS OUT OF JOINT i
Here's a disturbing story:The scene at the Wilds of Africa exhibit was wilder than anything most zookeepers have witnessed in the jungle: A 340-pound gorilla breaks out of its enclosure and goes on a 40-minute rampage through a forest, snatching up a toddler with his teeth and attacking three other people before being shot by officers.
Federal regulators are Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1079654896766928622004-03-18T16:08:00.000-08:002004-03-18T16:17:34.576-08:00 ALLEGORY OF THE CAVE
Redwood Dragon has one of the better images of Plato's Allegory of the Cave that I've come across. Here's the pertinent text; below is an excerpt from that pertinent text; here's another image of what is described in the pertinent text.[Socrates is speaking with Glaucon]
And now, I said, let me show in a figure how far our nature is enlightened or unenlightened: --Behold!Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1079591889555906862004-03-17T22:38:00.000-08:002004-03-17T22:48:05.060-08:00DON'T PRAY IN OUR SCHOOLS.
I WON'T THINK IN YOUR CHURCH.
The above is a bumper sticker mentioned in this article (via Relapsed Catholic). The author points out that,The message of the sticker brings up, of course, an old charge that is used by atheists and agnostics against those who subscribe to a particular religion -- namely, that people of faith cannot at the same time be people of Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1079590449238175272004-03-17T22:14:00.000-08:002004-03-18T17:47:11.170-08:00 FABULOUS, BLOGGING, DRINKING
TS O'Rama has some expected nice links in honor of St. Patrick's Day. While I still think the best blog motto I've come across is found on this blog:an interesting idea every three months; a posting every dayI think the motto of this blog (uh, the blog started to get a little vulgar when I last checked so I've de-linked it) that TS links to is pretty good:fabulous Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1079589824706467992004-03-17T22:03:00.000-08:002004-03-17T22:06:32.076-08:00 A SACRAL SOCIETY
Another provocative excerpt from this essay by Frederick D. Wilhelmsen. As I said previously, I'm not convinced that all his points come together successfully or that his approach is fully responsive to the issues of the day, but there are some really pithy passages:A sacral society appeals not only to the intellect and to the will but to man's sensibility and emotions. We Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1079331525587762792004-03-14T22:18:00.001-08:002004-03-15T21:54:05.686-08:00 POPEYE VERSUS GOD
I'm no Scripture scholar, though I play one here from time to time. Sunday's First Reading has the well-known burning-bush scene with Moses and the equally well-known Divine utterance. Not, "I am what I am"; that's Popeye, who I think said it more like "I yam what I yam." Rather,Moses said to God, "But when I go to the Israelites
and say to them, 'The God of your fathers Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1079331510914215382004-03-14T22:18:00.000-08:002004-03-15T13:02:09.093-08:00 SUNDAYS DURING LENT
I'm not one to make public the various deprivations I'm enduring during Lent. I am, though, always happy when it's Sunday.
Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1079202325191494682004-03-13T10:25:00.000-08:002004-03-13T10:27:44.216-08:00 THE LATEST FROM MADRID
Jesus Gil of Santificarnos continues to provide news from Madrid.
Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1079200854033957692004-03-13T10:00:00.000-08:002004-03-13T11:56:18.780-08:00 THE SACRAMENTS AS SIGNS
While I eagerly enrolled in the Lenten program offered at Disputations, I foolishly procrastinated and only recently ordered my copy of A Key to the Doctrine of the Eucharist from Zaccheus Press. And so, like showing up for class without the required book, I'm following the the discussion but sitting quietly in the back with my head down hoping the teacher won't call onMinute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1079134396497935962004-03-12T15:33:00.000-08:002004-03-12T15:47:48.356-08:00 A JURY OF ONE'S PEERS
Here's a follow-up to the case I mentioned in a post, SIMILAR REMARKS, DIFFERENT REACTIONS, from last month. Let me state again that, at least from the few stories I've read, the parents of the murdered girl are impressive. They continue to insist calmly and with dignity that their daughter's death should not be the cause of another death. While I very much agree with Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1079132176701249372004-03-12T14:56:00.000-08:002004-03-12T15:03:15.623-08:00 FLIPPING THE TELESCOPE AROUND
This is stunning:An estimated 10,000 galaxies are revealed in humankind's deepest portrait of the visible universe ever.The vastness of the "visible universe" has been mind numbing for so long that I wonder how any image could really make a deeper impression on us. Still, this glimpse is remarkable.
It's an interesting exercise to "flip the telescope around" Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1079109579608255662004-03-12T08:39:00.000-08:002004-03-12T08:45:21.920-08:00 LEAVE THE DEAD TO BURY THEIR DEAD
After the recent revelation that somebody was selling body parts that had been donated to UCLA, apparently some at UCLA thought the offense was so grave that, according to this report, they. . . will hold off on accepting additional bodies for medical research until the completion of an investigation into claims that body parts were sold for profit.This will Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1079108615896359552004-03-12T08:23:00.000-08:002004-03-12T08:25:54.640-08:00 MADRID BLOGGER
St. Blog's own Madrid Blogger (via Sursum Corda), Jesus Gil, has been posting on the horrific events.
Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1078955848408636982004-03-10T13:57:00.000-08:002004-03-10T14:02:25.076-08:00 THEODOR SEUSS GEISEL TURNS 100
Dr. Seuss would have been 100 years old this week. Here's a nice peek at how things are going:But the spirit of his work and its genius--the wild invention, the meaningfully meaningless patter of the words, the quiet truths of the characters (however odd they may otherwise be), the subtle mix of their motives--lose their logic and force when, say, Rosie O'Donnell Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1078847022233207152004-03-09T07:43:00.000-08:002004-03-09T18:32:13.950-08:00 TO UNDERSTAND IS TO COMMUNICATE
I recently stumbled upon a little book, Being and Knowing, that is a collection of essays by Frederick Wilhelmsen. I'd seen his name before, but I hadn't really read anything of his. I'm finding the book refreshingly insightful. I hope to share what I found so insightful about the book once I've finished it and feel I've unpacked the often dense text enough to Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1078846972413848542004-03-09T07:42:00.000-08:002004-03-09T07:45:07.090-08:00 A RISKY BUSINESS
I've just noticed that an interesting article, Columbia's Last Flight, that I read back in the November issue of The Atlantic Monthly is now online. Space flight is known to be a risky business, but during the minutes before dawn last February 1, as the doomed shuttle Columbia began to descend into the upper atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean, only a handful of people—a few Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1078785266064024122004-03-08T14:34:00.000-08:002004-03-09T07:50:31.950-08:00 "PLAY IN THE JOINTS"
At face value, it would be hard to overstate the irony of the recent decision (PDF!) by the Supreme Court to uphold the stipulation of a state scholarship that students can't use the scholarship money for theological studies.
Here's part of the decision:Washington’s exclusion of the pursuit of a devotional theology degree from its otherwise-inclusive scholarship aid Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1078727032731717282004-03-07T22:23:00.000-08:002004-03-07T22:27:33.873-08:00 NEW AGE DRIVEL AND DEEP SH*T
I thought this interview (via A&L Daily) with Jonathan Miller on his current staging of Shakespeare's King Lear was quite good. Here's a sample:Would you say it has a spiritual dimension? No. That's modern, New Age drivel. Every play has a spiritual dimension by simply having human beings in it. Humans are filled with all sorts of compunctions and ideas and Minute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3311752.post-1078471611389330492004-03-04T23:26:00.000-08:002004-03-04T23:38:12.420-08:00 FORM, CONTENT, AND THE INCARNATION
I've only now had a chance to read an article (PDF!) (via Disputations a few months ago) which attempts to unpack some aspects of Hans Urs von Balthasar's theology around the question of what we can predicate of the triune God. I simply haven't read enough of Balthasar to know if the article presents his case well and moves the debate forward.
I did, thoughMinute Particularshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01675244716897112864noreply@blogger.com