North Western Winds

C.S. Lewis and The Green Book Delcan's post about a book he's plumbing at the moment brought to my mind C.S. Lewis' short little book, The Abolition of Man . Lewis wrote it as a response to a modern English primer for school children. Modern, in this case, is the early 1940's. His insights are good and because the book is so short, I'm always recommending it to people when I suspect they are being taken up with the sort of ideas in what Lewis called The Green Book (in an effort to avoid embarassing the authors). This post is something of a continuation of my comments on Delcan's thread today. What Lewis calls 'The Tao' can be likened to what a Catholic would call the Natural Law and Lewis himself points out that he uses the eastern term in an effort to point to the universality of that which he speaks. From The Abolition of Man : This conception in all it's forms, Platonic, Aristotelian, Stoic, Christian and Oriental alike, I shall henceforth r...

Still on the subject of the Liberal Party's folly , here is something from C.S. Lewis' The Abolition of Man : [Reformers] will be found to hold, with complete uncritical enthusiasm, the whole system of values which happened to be in vogue among moderately educated [persons] of the professional classes. Their scepticism about values is on the surface: it is for use on other people's values; about the values current in their own thought they are not nearly sceptical enough. And this phenomenon is very usual. A great many of those who 'debunk' traditional or (as they would say) 'sentimental' values have in the background values of their own which they believe to be immune from the debunking process. That brings me to a post at The Western Standard that I'd like to echo: What will the Conservatives do once same-sex marriage is law? Will they go so far as to actually fight to have it repealed? After all, it's one thing to oppose the granting of a "...

In light of the square-circle Canada seems set to pass very soon , here's a link to an interesting interview with Jim Hughes , president of the Canadian national pro-life organization, Campaign Life Coalition (CLC). You'll never read this in the Globe and Mail , and rarely will it be heard in National Post . Q: It's astonishing that Prime Ministers Trudeau, Turner, Mulroney, Clark, Chretien and now Martin , all Catholics and most from Quebec, have all, in varying degrees, supported the these radical social changes. How do you account for this? A: Well, I cannot account for it. I hear people saying that the problems occurred on the Catholic side after Vatican II, but in reality the problems occurred and were created by people, such as those prime ministers, who attended Latin Mass, people who were brought up on the Baltimore Catechism learning the truths of the faith by rote. Those are the people who were the architects of all of this stuff. They've rejected their fait...

I've been memed again. This once was started by James Bow , and the tag that got me was from Greg at Sinister Thoughts . The way this works is that I name three people with whom I disagree a lot, and then I find something to admire about them. As I understand it, I'm not limited to other bloggers on my three disagreeables. I am planning to use bloggers, however, because the truth is that I have very little to say about, for example, the leaders of any Canadian party other than the CPC. Now, that hardly means I think Steven Harper and the CPC are the best thing that ever was - although I do like Harper, even with some some admitted faults. I don't have grand, overarching aims for my government. I'm a steady as she goes, kind of guy, and that I think is best represented by the CPC and by no one else, if I'm being honest. I don't try to achieve my personal ragnarok through Federalism. The Liberals, as much as I utterly loathe their current leader and this current ...

This article by Robert P. George reads like a preview of his book, The Clash of Orthodoxies . It should be good reading for anyone who thinks all of religion is defended only by claims to divine command, or "revelation." Yeah, that might cover some of the folks with "hidden agenda" on their tongue whenever the CPC is mentioned. George sets out to take on The Myth: Orthodox secularism promotes the myth that there is only one basis for disbelieving its tenets: namely, the claim that God has revealed propositions contrary to these tenets. Most orthodox secularists would have us believe that their positions are fully and decisively vindicated by reason and therefore can be judged to have been displaced only on the basis of irrational or, at least, nonrational faith. They assert that they have the reasonable position; any claims to the contrary must be based on unreasoned faith. Secularists are in favor of a "religious freedom" that allows everyone to believ...

It's no secret that David Warren is - by far - my favourite newspaper columnist in Canada. Cosh and Coyne can be fun or interesting but perhaps not both at once. Steyn is funny and accurate but sometimes a wee bit too rapid fire for my tastes. Warren also adds levels of maturity and depth that are remarkable in someone who works in the go go world of modern media. Here are snippets from three of his most recent columns, proof that his short rest served him well. From " In Praise of Slow ": Not everything done fast is a mistake. There are flukes. There are geniuses who move at speed with a kind of perfect pitch in whatever form of music they are making. Such people will never be statistically significant. More familiar is the phenomenon of El Thicko moving at speed, to legislate something in the long train from social assistance to no-fault divorce” to “same-sex marriage” -- with a million arbitrary and ill-considered acts of government regulation in between (most de...

There is a terrific post here . It doesn't lend itself to being quoted so all I can do is say it's worth it. Faith is a struggle. It means looking the world square in the eye; all the blood, all the sickness, all the insanity. There is a type of Christian who gives the air of being above, or perhaps beyond all of that. Maybe the turmoil is simply too personal to share, or maybe they feel they can't do it justice. Or maybe there's a bit of pride involved. I think the job of being credible in our conversation with others who don't share the faith is aided by a bit of candour. If we suggest that the world is more spit and shine than it is, who can blame them for thinking that we are loopy dreamers? Dryness does happen. With perseverance it can propel us forward. It can do that, but it isn't easy. ***** For a much funnier story, try this . Thanks to Francis Poretto for both links.

One summer afternoon in the year 1054, as a service was about to begin in the Church of the Holy Wisdom' (Hagia Sophia) at Constantinople, Cardinal Humbert and two other legates of the Pope entered the building and made their way up to the sanctuary. They had not come to pray. They placed a Bull of Excommunication upon the altar and marched out once more. As he passed through the western door, the Cardinal shook the dust from his feet with the words: 'Let God look and judge.' A deacon ran out after him in great distress and begged him to take back the Bull. Humbert refused; and it was dropped in the street. It is this incident which has conventionally been taken to mark the beginning of the great schism between the Orthodox east and the Latin west. So begins an interesting history of the first Christian schism at this site for Orthodox Christians (Orthodox in this case meaning the Eastern Orthodox Church). It's interesting to see this story from another angle. One ca...

Tolkien and 'Simple' faith From a letter from J.J.R. Tolkien to his son: The... search backwards for 'simplicity' and directness - which, of course, though it contains some good or at least intelligible motives, is mistaken and indeed vain. Because 'primitive' Christianity is now and in spite of all 'research' will remain ever largely unknown; because 'primitiveness' is no guarantee of value, and is and was in great part a reflection of ignorance. Grave abuses were as much an element in Christian 'liturgical' behavior from the beginning as now. (St. Paul's strictures on Eucharistic behavior are sufficient to show this!) Still more because 'my church' was not intended by Our Lord to be static or remain in perpetual childhood; but to be a living organism (likened to a plant) which develops and changes in externals by the interaction of its bequeathed divine life and history - the particular circumstances of the world into whi...

Via my blogging friend Ilona , I came across this intriguing essay by a blogger I haven't bumped into before. I don't want to comment on it too much because I'm not overly familiar with one half of his comparison of Gnosticism and Liberalism. I'll throw it out to readers and wait to hear comments. I know I have at least one reader who is very knowledgeable in that area, and I hope he might share some thoughts. Here's a snip of Dr. Bob's commentary : Gnosticism as a religion is ancient - predating Christianity by at least several centuries, and coexisting with it for several more before dying out. It was in many ways a syncretic belief system, drawing elements from virtually every religion it touched: Buddhism, Indian pantheism, Greek philosophy and myth, Jewish mysticism, and Christianity. Gnosticism (from the Greek gnosis , to know, or knowledge) was manifested in many forms and sects, but all shared common core beliefs: dualism, wherein the world was evil...

Francis De Sales, from The Introduction to the Devout Life Of Desires EVERYBODY grants that we must guard against the desire for evil things, since evil desires make evil men. But I say yet further, my daughter, do not desire dangerous things, such as balls or pleasures, office or honour, visions or ecstacies. Do not long after things afar off; such, I mean, as cannot happen till a distant time, as some do who by this means wear themselves out and expend their energies uselessly, fostering a dangerous spirit of distraction... We ought not to desire ways of serving God which He does not open to us, but rather desire to use what we have rightly. Of course I mean by this, real earnest desires, not common superficial wishes, which do no harm if not too frequently indulged. Do not desire crosses, unless you have borne those already laid upon you well--it is an abuse to long after martyrdom while unable to bear an insult patiently. The Enemy of souls often inspires men with ardent desires ...

Via Little Green Footballs .

I have been tinkering with the template tonight. I finally got around to taking Johnny Dee's advice about column widths; they're just a bit wider now. I also replaced the book list at the now defunct All Consuming with one from Amazon . Lastly, I also put an Amazon banner at the bottom of the page, alongside a quote generator. Comments are welcome, especially if you should have difficulty in viewing any part of the blog.

Here is a link to a good summary of C.S. Lewis' book, The Problem of Pain .

Bill Vacellia's exchange with Kevin, on the mertis of dualism vs. materialism when talking about the mind, continues to be of interest. In fact, I think Bill is begining to get in stride because this is terrific : Suppose we consider an analogy. Distinguished philosophers have proposed that there are three categories of entity. Following Karl Popper, who builds on the work of Gottlob Frege, we can call them World 1, World 2 and World 3 entities. World 1 includes physical items; World 2 mental items; World 3 'abstract' or 'ideal' items. 'Abstract' is not the best term since it suggests something unintended, namely, mental acts of abstraction; but the term is in use, and I'll use it. An abstract entity is one that is not located in space or time and is not causally active or passive. Take a humble arithmetical truth such as 7 + 5 = 12. The truth expressed (which is not to be confused with the sentences used to express it or the thoughts used to think it) ...

It seems the BBC is having a vote to determine who is the world's greatest philosopher . IMHO, this is a terrible way to answer the question, but I understand the point here is not truth but a bit fun to drive people to the BBC website. Tell me, please, who does Tom Cruise think is the best philosopher? I can't stand the suspense . The Maverick Philosopher and Edward Fesser weigh in. I have not read enough philosophy to choose with a great deal of confidence, but I find Fesser's idea of choosing Aquinas in order to not have to choose between Plato and Aristotle compelling. This means less originality, but I think that is a virtue that is over rated in our time. Honing in on the truth is the ultimate criteria for me, and for that reason I'll agree with Fesser. I scored only seven out of twelve on the quiz, though...

"The expansion of the self happens very rapidly, it's one of the most exhilarating experiences there is..." - Dr. Arthur Aron The National Post reprinted a most interesting NYT story on a study that appeared in The Journal of Neurophysiology . The study used MRI scans to see how love affects the brain. Even more interesting was that the researchers thought they could see a difference in early infatuation and mature relationships. Here is an excerpt: Brain imaging technology cannot read people's minds, experts caution, and a phenomenon as many-sided and socially influenced as love transcends simple computer graphics, like those produced by the technique used in the study, called functional MRI. Still, said Dr. Hans Breiter, director of the Motivation and Emotion Neuroscience Collaboration at Massachusetts General Hospital, "I distrust about 95 percent of the MRI literature, and I would give this study an A; it really moves the ball in terms of understanding ...

There is an interesting article from Paul Johnson on Commentary , where he explores the irrational deep rootedness of anti semitism. Johnson writes: The historical evidence suggests that racism, in varying degrees, is ubiquitous in human societies, so much so that it might even be termed natural and inevitable (though not irremediable: its behavioral consequences can be mitigated by education, political arrangements, and intermarriage). It often takes the form of national hostility, especially when two countries are placed by geography in postures of antagonism. Such has been the case with France and England, Poland and Russia, and Germany and Denmark, to give only three obvious examples... By contrast, anti-Semitism is very ancient, has never been associated with frontiers, and, although it has had its ups and downs, seems impervious to change. The Jews (or Hebrews) were “strangers and sojourners,” as the book of Genesis puts it, from very early times, and certainly by the end of th...

Call me a traditionalist, orthodox fuddy duddy if you want, but I'm certain there's a better way to interest people (especially kids) in the Bible than pictures of lego men . Thoughts on sex that are actually worth thinking . Dennis Mangan's blog seems to get better all the time. If you haven't yet, you ought. Despite being an interesting and thoughtful writer, I'm afraid this guy has no sense of humour . Finally, Fred suggests we do away with universal suffrage .

I'm quite impressed with the new and improved Truth Laid Bear Ecosystem , and how it allows you to see how blogs stand in relation to their niche, as opposed to simply blogs in general. The Canadian pond is still quite small compared to the US or the UK, but as I understand it, it's bigger than France or Germany, where blogging has yet to take off. In the Canadian pool , NWW is currently ranked #25 in Canada. Not bad for a "so con" book blog, eh? The top dogs don't surprise me too much - Small Dead Animals , Angry in the Great White North , and Bound by Gravity et al, are all pretty tough competition. Still, #330 on the overall list is not bad, nor is closing in on 500 unique links. Also interesting is that nine of the top ten are conservative blogs of various stripes (and the tenth is an aggregate). In fact, it looks as if the cons utterly dominate the listings. That can't last can it? This is Librano land after all... Wait until the CRTC weighs in!

I don't think it's true that, as this Scottish blogger likes to say, that "cruelty is the last remaining conservative value ." That's torqued up a tad bit too high, IMHO. Note that I don't think it's entirely without merit. One can attempt to make an ideology of some elements of conservative thinking by fetishizing them: free markets, law and order, nationalism. To avoid this trap - one that is not unique to conservatives - one has to remember that we value those things because we think they can help people. Our loyalty has to be to people, and not to abstractions : Conservatism is the property of all, not the simple possession of whoever sits in the Oval Office. Such is the detachment of the free market establishment from the working man and woman, and so ideological are they, that they forget that the working class are some of the most socially conservative people you will find. If you want an advocate for the wearing of school uniform and corporal puni...

Special Shipping Information: This item is not eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping. Colby Cosh is making me really nostalgic with this post . Why do Catholics blog ? A Canadian academic is releasing a new collection of poetry by Thomas Merton . A good editorial by Margaret Sommerville here: each party is using social-ethical values issues to try to ensure that the other party does not earn the trust of undecided voters—whose numbers have probably substantially increased. In the current political circumstances, where we have been so forcefully reminded that we cannot simply assume that we can trust people in public office, trust will play a much more important and decisive role in the outcome of an election, were one to be called, than in the past. But alleging breaches of trust is not an ethically neutral act , not least because such allegations can seriously harm the broad trust basis on which society rests. So, if they are to act ethically, politicians must not make such a...

The 'sick man' of europe is europe One of my favourite historians weighs in on the state of affairs in Europe. Paul Johnson writes of Europe : Europe has turned its back not only on the U.S. and the future of capitalism, but also on its own historic past. Europe was essentially a creation of the marriage between Greco-Roman culture and Christianity. Brussels has, in effect, repudiated both . There was no mention of Europe's Christian origins in the ill-fated Constitution, and Europe's Strasbourg Parliament has insisted that a practicing Catholic cannot hold office as the EU Justice Commissioner. Equally, what strikes the observer about the actual workings of Brussels is the stifling, insufferable materialism of their outlook. The last Continental statesman who grasped the historical and cultural context of European unity was Charles de Gaulle. He wanted "the Europe of the Fatherlands (L'Europe des patries)" and at one of his press conferences I recall...

Bill Vacellia and Kevin Kim continue to discuss the merits of naturalism and dualism. What's interesting in these debates is that as an undergrad, I would have argued alongside Kim. I didn't grok the kind of argument Vacellia is making; it was just too new and too strange to me. So was Berkeley's idealism. Now, I would say they are... interesting. As I'm older and (I hope) wiser now, I think my ability to weigh into these things is getting better instead of worse. Looking back, I think I was arguing with a figment of the dualist argument, not the real thing, and I think Kevin is in the same danger. Kevin attempts to use Occam's Razor to validate his naturalism, arguing that dualists bring unnecessary items to the debate. Bill suggests that Kevin's definition of reality is a bit thin. He writes: I have no problem with methodological naturalism. If the task is to explain physical phenomena, then by all means go as far as possible invoking only physical causes...

This passage is from Patrick O'Brian's book, Post Captain , which is book two in the Aubrey - Martin series. You may know it from the movie The Far Side of the World , which is book ten in the series. To set it up, in this scene Captain Aubrey needs more men for a new ship he is shortly to take out against Napoleon's forces. Unable to come up with a satisfactory poster himself, Aubrey remembers that one of his men is skilled in such arts. This is what the crewman produced: L5,000 a man (or more) WEALTH EASE DISTINCTION YOUR LAST CHANCE OF A FORTUNE! HMS Polycrest will shortly sail to scour the seas of ALL KING GEORGE'S enemies. She is designed to SAIL AGAINST THE WIND AND TIDE and she will Take, Sink, and Destroy the Tyrant's helpless man-of-war, without Mercy, sweeping the the Ocean of his Trade. There is no time to be lost! Once the Polycrest has gone by there will be no more PRIZES, no more fat French and cowardly Dutch merchatmen, loaded with Treasure, Jewe...

More from Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life . The book is sensible and civilized in a way no one seems to be able to imagine any more. Can you imagine a modern women's magazine publishing such a thing? GQ? We have very little sense of the stations of life anymore. Self and sentiment have sent it underground, and marketing has slammed the door. We're all poor now, with "aged" jeans at premium prices and plumber butts for all. Still, there is an element of artiface to the book that makes it a bit jarring to my admitledly modern ears. As to the quality and fashion of clothes, modesty in these points must depend upon various circumstances, age, season, condition, the society we move in, and the special occasion. Most people dress better on a high festival than at other times; in Lent, or other penitential seasons, they lay aside all gay apparel; at a wedding they wear wedding garments, at a funeral, mourning garb; and at a king's court the dress whi...

Reuters is a pretty crappy and biased news source, all things considered. They don't know what a terrorist is, for example. Even so, there is no need to dispute this : The [Schaivo autopsy] results supported clinical findings and the contention of her husband that Schiavo had been in a "persistent vegetative state" since collapsing 15 years earlier from a cardiac arrest that deprived her brain of oxygen, said Dr. Stephen Nelson, a forensic pathologist who assisted in the autopsy. "She would not have been able to form any cognitive thought," said Nelson, speaking with Pinellas County Medical Examiner Jon Thogmartin at a news conference. "There was a massive loss of brain tissue." During a long and bitter family feud over Schiavo's fate, courts consistently ruled in support of Schiavo's husband and legal guardian, Michael Schiavo, that Schiavo would not have wanted to live in such a state. A persistent vegetative state meant she was unable to ...

Look out. Sirius ' Brandon is on the march in this fine post : The significance of Darwin was not that he gave a way to attribute moral qualities to animals. It was (need it actually be said?) that he gave a powerful argument for a gradualist account of the origin of species. Darwin's amateur reflections on morality can easily be shown to be derivative; from Hume, for instance, who makes a stronger case than Darwin does for attributing moral qualities to animals. It may be hard to imagine, but Darwin was not an all-shattering trumpet-blast opening the first round of Ragnarok. Almost always, when people open a sentence with "Before Darwin" you know that they are trying to pull a fast one; the only such sentence that is clearly true is, "Before Darwin we didn't have anyone pompously telling us how things were before Darwin." And, contrary to Madigan's claims, only someone very uninformed would hold that most religions assume that human beings begin wi...

The Danger of Exculturation In this report on France, Gianni Ambrosio examines Catholicisme, la fin d'un monde [ Catholicism, the end of a world ], a book by Daniele Hervieu-Lager, who is described as a "a renowned sociologist of religion." Ambrosio is the general ecclesiastic assistant at the Catholic University of Milan. Hervieu-Lager describes the Church in France as being in a terminal decline, a decline she terms "Exculturation." With each phase of its journey modernity distances itself from Catholicism and uproots it from the French cultural context. "Secular" France becomes "pagan" France. The France that was once her "firstborn daughter" no longer has room in its culture for Mother Church... As the author [Danile Hervieu-Lager] recalls, the term "pagan" is a recurring one in French pastoral literature. It is enough to cite to the well-known work "La France pays de mission?" by H. Godin and Y. Daniel, p...

Eternity Road's Francis Poretto has posted about his movement from cradle Catholic to... well, not Catholic, and back to Catholic again. There is stuff that goes with that sort of movement, stuff that sometimes doesn't get shared but should be. Not sharing it makes us look like unthinking and unfeeling robots. I don't have the exactly the same problems Poretto does, but I have a great deal of sympathy with the sort of delimma he presents us. That, I think we all feel. Go on, now. This is good even by his normally high standards.

This post reminds me of that debate I had with Andrew way back when we were both still wet behind the ears (blog-wise, anyhow). The difference is that The Maverick Philosopher is able to make his points in far less space than your truly. Let me say first, Kevin, that I am not trying to convince you or anyone that theism is true -- which would be too ambitious a project --but only that it is reasonable, at least as reasonable as its naturalistic competitors. The true and reasonable are distinct. Antithetical views could both be reasonable, but not both true. At the end of the day, after all the dialectical smoke has cleared and all the arguments pro et contra have been weighed up, one has to simply decide what one will believe and how one will live. Taking your second question first, you are right that to prove the existence of a First Cause of a certain description (necessary, ontologically simple, absolute, wholly immaterial, etc.) is not the same as to prove the existence of the...