Skip to main content

Links!

With the Pope's passing, I am doing a lot more church-y writing and church-y linking. Probably more than I intended when I created NWW last August. The Terri Schaivo story was another that pulled me in that direction. In any case, the Papal remembrance and the upcoming Conclave are stories that I can't, as a new Catholic to be, overlook. What's more, I find them fascinating. It's a story that has literally grabbed me. Yesterday, while I was at work, I met a woman who told me she had seen her daughter on the television, waiting to see John Paul's body. She was a little overwhelmed. Stalwart wit that I am, I think I said "wow, that's neat." She repeated to me what she had seen and then gave me a warm, emotional hug. When she let me go, her eyes were pink and puffy, holding back tears. I got minorly verklempt myself. I think she was Polish, and she had no way of knowing that I am in the home stretch of joining her church. I have begun to open myself to the fact that life is stranger than we ever imagine. Here are a few more angles on this story- The New Republic offers a revealing look at the political issues behind the upcoming Conclave, which I heard is to start on April the 18th:
both the left and right perspectives have a major flaw: namely, an America-centric myopia. Neither side sees that the next Pope is unlikely to be chosen along the conventional left-right continuums on economic and social issues. In fact, there is every reason to believe that the criteria for choosing John Paul's successor will be less ideological--and more mundane--than pundits would have you believe. ... Those who hope for a liberal Pope misunderstand both liberalism and Catholicism. Precisely speaking, there is no such thing as a "liberal" candidate, if by liberal you mean Lockean, or liberal as in voting with Nancy Pelosi. The cardinals have different points of reference. To them, Enlightenment philosophy is alluring but ultimately unsatisfying, and being in favor of legal abortion is not liberal, it is inhumane. The key divide is between those who favor centralization and those who favor permitting regional differences in theology and liturgy and some experimentation within Catholicism. But some cardinals may be sticklers on liturgy and very forward-thinking about social justice. Standard political categories do not apply. In short, the concerns of the electors differ sharply from many of the issues and ideologies being thrown about in the press. Besides, traditionally, after a long pontificate, the cardinals select an older man as a transitional figure--one who is unlikely to be as influential as his predecessor. Far from a showdown between liberal and conservative conceptions of Catholicism, everything about the upcoming Conclave suggests moderation: ma non troppo.
The passing of the Pope has brought one of my favourite Catholic bloggers back to his bloggers keyboard. Mark Shea shares a few thoughts on the man and one those who had difficulty accepting him. He makes the excellent point that many of the Pope's enemies were and are ideological extremists, whereas the Pope was rightly not concerned about fitting into those molds. His tune was always one of Orthodoxy and the embrace of the flesh and blood people before him. JPII was not only a man who faced down Communist Poland. He was also a man who forgave his would be assassin. Remember some of the oddities surrounding JPII's death that I pointed out in my last Links! post? It turns out there's a few more, this time concerned with the funeral this Friday. Like I said, life is really weird. The American Spectator chimes in with praise for JPII for not following the times, as does The Detroit News.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Reuters joins CNN on the bench

Makes room for CanWest to join the majors Kudos to CanWest for calling a terrorist a terrorist . Many, including The Last Amazon , will be happy to hear it. Reuters is among the worst of the major western news services, where I would also place the BBC and the CBC. Unsurprisingly, Reuters is not happy about the changes CanWest made to Reuters wire stories: Our editorial policy is that we don't use emotive words when labeling someone," said David A. Schlesinger, Reuters' global managing editor. "Any paper can change copy and do whatever they want. But if a paper wants to change our copy that way, we would be more comfortable if they remove the byline." Mr. Schlesinger said he was concerned that changes like those made at CanWest could lead to "confusion" about what Reuters is reporting and possibly endanger its reporters in volatile areas or situations. "My goal is to protect

Where credit is due

A good'un from Sawyer Brown . Thank God for You Well I've been called a self-made man Girl don't you believe it's true I know exactly how lucky I am When I'm gettin' this close to you It's high time I'm giving some praise To those that got me where I am today Chorus I got to thank momma for the cookin' Daddy for the whuppin' The devil for the trouble that I get into I got to give credit where credit is due I thank the bank for the money Thank God for you A strong heart and a willing hand That's the secret to my success A good woman - I try to be a good man A good job - Lord I know I've been blessed I'm just a part of a greater plan It doesn't matter which part I am Chorus I got to thank momma for the teachin' Daddy for the preachin' The devil for the trouble that I get into I got to give credit where credit is due I thank the bank for the money Thank God for you

A very limited form of inquiry

Real Clear Politics is carrying commentary on James Q. Wilson's WSJ article on ID (got that?). Wilson, the respected social scientist, gets it mostly right when he says that ID is not science because it can't be tested: So ID is not science. Does this mean that science, in any way, implies the non-existence of God? No. Does this mean that belief in God is irrational and that we should all be "free thinkers"? No. Does this mean that it is impossible to arbitrate between various theories of the existence/non-existence of God and come to some reasonable conclusions? No. Does this mean that we cannot say that humanity is meant to exist? No. In other words, rationality outside of science is quite possible, and has been around for a long time. How do you think humanity invented science in the first place? We surely did not do it scientifically. Science as we know it is the product of millennia of philosophical debate -- from Aristotle to Lakatos. Science depends upon phi