North Western Winds

Brit blogging I'm still off as I don't feel much like writing at the moment. I do still have the energy to pass along good reads, as I did with von Balthasar the other day. Via Blimpish , here are two left leaning Englishmen making me wish activity of this sort was occurring on this side of the Atlantic as well. I'm still Tory and it is hard to imagine any circumstance that could lead me to vote left, but - stepping back just a moment - as Joe Citizen I would like to see Canadians offered strong platforms from all of the parties. I hate the way this country seems to be locked into the Liberal party and want to see that bug squashed. I'd prefer a Blue squashing to an Orange one, but hey! If the Orange party can do the squashing (rampant speculation on my part, I know) without trashing the place, it would be better than than the current 'kick us again, we're Canadian' voting pattern we've seen since... Well, it seems like it's been since forever. ...

Hans Urs von Balthasar I thought this short essay was marvelous (although I'm sure more than a few will find it a bit dense); a nice starting point for contemplation. I have not read Von Balthasar before and this was an intriguing first encounter. A biography of the man is here. Note that I'm not presenting a complete copy of the essay, although I've copied most of it. We start with a reflection on the situation of man. He exists as a limited being in a limited world, but his reason is open to the unlimited, to all of being. The proof consists in the recognition of his finitude, of his contingence: I am, but I could not-be . Many things which do not exist could exist. Essences are limited, but being (l'être) is not . That division, the "real distinction" of St. Thomas, is the source of all the religious and philosophical thought of humanity. It is not necessary to recall that all human philosophy (if we abstract the biblical domain and its influence) is...

Blog anniversary Today is North Western Winds' one year anniversary. It's been a lot of work and a lot of fun. I've exchanged ideas with some interesting people and learned a lot about both blogging and philosophy. A look back in stats: Depending on which counter service I check with, my unique visitors number about 28,000 or a lot more. Daily visits are close to 150 a day. 677 posts The TTLB has NWW at 381 unique links, and #249 overall. A "Large Mammal." The Blogging Tories TTLB puts NWW at number 11, by links within the community. Canada wide TTLB puts NWW at 14, by links within the community. I think the blog is working out pretty well. I'm learning, I'm sharing, and it's fun. That said, I feel a need for another break. I took a two week break once before - I think it was in the spring. In any case, I think it did me some good because I came back and did what I think are some good posts. They got some links and sparked some debate. M...

Michael Ruse, Taking Darwin Seriously I've have been debating over at Andrew's Bound by Gravity , on the subject of how evolution and religion are to be reconciled, if they are indeed reconcilable. Andrew's an agnostic and he found a passage from a New Republic article that moved him to say he thought the subject of intelligent design had to be in a complete tatters. My response - and we've had this debate before, he and I, was that I do not see how we on earth, living a mere seventy years or so and seeing nothing more than a tiny fraction of this one planet, could be in a position to extrapolate from that and say with certainty that there is not a hidden order to the universe that is beyond our understanding. I added that a randomly evolved mind would be in an even worse position to judge, as it was not made with any goal in mind (like having a real and significant compass towards finding ontologic truths about the universe). Finally, I tried to show that in our e...

A guy joins a monastery and takes a vow of silence: he’s allowed to say two words every seven years. After the first seven years, the elders bring him in and ask for his two words. "Cold floors," he says. They nod and send him away. Seven more years pass. They bring him back in and ask for his two words. He clears his throats and says, "Bad food." They nod and send him away. Seven more years pass. They bring him in for his two words. "I quit," he says. "That’s not surprising," the elders say. "You’ve done nothing but complain since you got here." Tip: Catholic Fire .

Still reading Augustine. This passage describes his mother's patience and worry over him; as a young man he fell away from the faith she had tried to share with him and instead he fell in with a religious group called the Manichees . Monica is to this day held up by Catholics as an example of steadfastness and perseverence. From the Confessions , Chapter 11: And now thou didst "stretch forth thy hand from above" and didst draw up my soul out of that profound darkness [of Manicheism] because my mother, thy faithful one, wept to thee on my behalf more than mothers are accustomed to weep for the bodily deaths of their children. For by the light of the faith and spirit which she received from thee, she saw that I was dead. And thou didst hear her, O Lord, thou didst hear her and despised not her tears when, pouring down, they watered the earth under her eyes in every place where she prayed. Thou didst truly hear her. For what other source was there for that dream by whic...

I've had this thought myself, but Steyn says it best: Ever since America’s all-adult, all-volunteer army went into Iraq, the anti-war crowd have made a sustained effort to characterise them as ‘children’. If a 13-year-old wants to have an abortion, that’s her decision and her parents shouldn’t get a look-in. If a 21-year-old wants to drop to the Oval Office shagpile and chow down on Bill Clinton, she’s a grown woman and free to do what she wants. But, if a 22- or 25- or 37-year old is serving his country overseas, he’s a wee ‘child’ who isn’t really old enough to know what he’s doing. Via Damian Penny .

It is interesting to see a figure like St. Augustine , who some would characterize as a negative and puritanical figure, describe his early life in a manner that is probably familiar to almost any undergrad student today. From Book Three of The Confessions : To Carthage I came, where a cauldron of unholy loves bubbled up all around me. I searched about for something to love, in love with loving, and hating security, and a way not free of snares... I remained without desire for incorruptible food, not because I was already filled thereby, but because the more empty I was the more I loathed it. My soul was far from well, and, full of ulcers, it miserably cast itself forth, craving to be excited by contact with objects of sense. Yet these had these no soul, and would not inspire love. To love and to be loved was sweet to me, and all the more when I succeeded in enjoying the person I loved. I befouled, therefore, the spring of friendship with the filth of concupiscence , and I dimmed its...

In an amusing aside, David Warren notes that: On the subject of drinking, yet another long-term, in-depth study, this one of 7,000 persons by Australian National University’s Centre for Mental Health Research, has shown that people who drink (specifically, alcohol) are smarter and healthier than people who don't. Also, I should think: wiser, kinder, prettier, happier, and better. But the study was restricted to drivelling tests of verbal reasoning, short-term memory, and the like. Unsurprisingly, teetotallers appeared to be more likely than certified alcoholics to achieve the lowest scores. I don't think they had this kind of beer in mind. Well, if I can't have that, I will certainly be happy with a McAuslan's St-Ambrose Oatmeal Stout. I note that the loneliest liberal in the Red Ensign group likes it too , so I guess he can't be all bad then. I also like studies that showing that chocolate is good for you.

Andrew Coyne : [Michaelle Jean] has no record of service to the country, no outstanding accomplishments to her name, no specialized knowledge of law, politics or the constitution. In a crisis, what credibility would she have? If the minority government were to attempt to rule without the confidence of the House -- again -- would anyone listen to her opinion on the matter? If the country were to be plunged into the constitutional void of a unilateral secession bid, would Canadians rally to her side -- whichever side that was? This isn't a sales clerk we're hiring. This is supposed to be the position of supreme honour and prestige in the country, one with important symbolic and substantive roles. It should be filled by titans, revered national icons, whose love of country is reflected in the love their country has for them. So Paul Martin pooched the appoinment of the Governor General to be. *blink* This is a surprise? He chose her with little to no screening, from accounts I...

I have been debating with Francis Poretto over this post , in which I thought he was advocating too indiscriminate a response to nuclear terrorism. Lest I be thought some sort of pacifist, I will point to this, by Fr. James V. Schall , and say that I my views are very much in line: Never to fight a war means never to take the trouble to stop unjust aggression when it happens. This is not a virtue. The history of our kind, to be sure, is filled with wars that should not have been fought. It is also – and this we forget – filled with wars that should have been fought and were not. Much evil has followed from unjust wars. Much evil has also flowed from wars that should have been fought and were not, or were, as in the case of World War II, not fought soon enough. Never to defend one’s nation or culture against any attack from whatever source implicitly is to admit that what one stands for is not worthy of any sacrifice, especially the sacrifice of death in defending it...

Readers from John the Mad's blog are hereby issued a big fat Welcome! , and directed to this particular post , which I am still seeking comments on.

Austin Bramswell has an interesting read in the latest issue of The American Conservative , in which he warns about conservative triumphalism and identifies three areas where high quality conservative debate is still taking place. Conservatism has reached an unacknowledged consensus about the outcome of the theoretical debates of the ‘50s and ‘60s. The consensus holds, first, that someone has discovered the Holy Grail that will vindicate conservatism once and for all, otherwise why be a conservative in the first place? Second, it holds that, whatever the Grail actually is, it does not do any good to describe it with too much specificity. These beliefs contradict each other, yet the conservative consensus has proved remarkably stable. Take, as a case study, libertarianism. Unlike most other right-wingers, libertarians have a distinct idea of what they stand for: less government. They also have, in free-market economics, the Right’s most fruitful research program and, in F.A. Hayek, th...

Parable Man takes aim at the word "neo Catholic": Traditionalist Catholics apply the label because they are irritated at the inability of many "neo-Catholics" to appreciate what are claimed as serious errors of the post-Vatican II Church in the area of morals, culture, and Church discipline. "Neo-Catholics" are supposedly unable to take a broader view that understands Catholicity as the task of ensuring that no significant changes occur to the doctrine, practice, and teachings of Catholicism as they existed when Christ gave them to the Apostles in 1940. ... Liberal Catholics apply the label for the same reason, except the "serious error" they identify in the post-Vatican II era is the failure to rewrite the Church's moral teachings on sexuality and family. "Neo-Catholics" are supposedly unable to take a broader view that understands Catholicity as an evolutionary process by which the Church jettisons inauthentic cultural holdover...

Vomit the Lukewarm manages to say in a few words what took me... well, a lot more . Thomas Aquinas' major rivals were the followers of Averrhoes at the University of Paris. Their first principle of philosophy was the infallibility of Aristotle , who they claimed was a dispensation of divine providence, revealed to man to teach all natural truth. Aquinas' criticism of these men shows that while they claimed to only follow the littera [letter] of Aristotle, they in fact divinized their own interpretation of the literal sense . This is typical of what happens when one tries to make a book the sole rule of right doctrine.

This is a better result than "the U.N."... You're Vatican City! You're pretty sure that you're infallible in all that you do or say, and it's hard to say whether you're right.  You have a lot of followers, most of whom will do whatever you say without question, or line up to see you ride around in your spiffy car.  Religious and reserved, you have some wisdom, but also a bit much contempt for everyone around you.  You're also fabulously wealthy, no matter what you say to the contrary. Take the Country Quiz at the Blue Pyramid

St Paul's Rocks Picture source . A passage from Patrick O'Brian's HMS Surprise , the third novel in the Aubrey-Maturin series. It takes place during a long passage from England to India, circa 1800, with the ship resting at a lonely rock outcropping 950 km. off Brazil, known as St. Paul's . Two of the men decide to spend the afternoon exploring. After confessing of his estrangement from his wife, despairing of getting any more letters or packages from her, and admitting to the ship's doctor, Stephen Maturin, that he cannot bear any longer "this long, slow death," crewman Nicholls offers to build an impromptu shelter from the searing sun. Dr. Maturin passes on the offer, as he is an inveterate naturalist, obsessed with observing and capturing samples of the natural life on the desolate site . What happens next is quite unexpected. 'I should not have thought I had any drops of sweat left,' Maturin reflected, thumping on. Then he realized that...

During a Eucharistic Congress, a number of priests from different orders are gathered in a church for Vespers. While they are praying, a fuse blows and all the lights go out. The Benedictines continue praying from memory, without missing a beat. The Jesuits begin to discuss whether the blown fuse means they are dispensed from the obligation to pray Vespers. The Franciscans compose a song of praise for God's gift of darkness. The Dominicans revisit their ongoing debate on light as a signification of the transmission of divine knowledge. The Carmelites fall into silence and slow, steady breathing. The parish priest, who is hosting the others, goes to the basement and replaces the fuse. Well, I thought that was hilarious. Tip: Catholic Fire .

My friend Ben likes to say that he is a candidate for an Asperger diagnosis and my wife jokingly tells me the same. Your were joking, weren't you, dear? WIRED magazine now has an on line test you can take. The magazine tells us that "the average score in the control group was 16.4. Eighty percent of those diagnosed with autism or a related disorder scored 32 or higher." Yours truly came in over the average and under the diagnosis, with a respectable 21. Note that the server seems to be having trouble right this moment and I had to tally my score by hand. The test is part of a fascinating look at WIRED claims is an upsurge in Aspergers and Autism diagnoses in Silicon Valley: Rates of both classic autism and Asperger's syndrome are going up all over the world, which is certainly cause for alarm and for the urgent mobilization of research. Autism was once considered a very rare disorder, occurring in one out of every 10,000 births. Now it's understood to be mu...

World Youth Day opens in Cologne, Germany tomorrow. Here are some links for those who want to know more. Canada's Father Dowd, who writes the blog Waiting in Joyful Hope , is in Cologne and his site offers audio and text commentary. The Official Web Site of WYD 2005. Here, you can read stuff from some kids in the Archdiocese of Vancouver . EWTN has lots of coverage, in various forms of media .

Faith and Salvation There is a famous example of a syllogism , given by Aristotle, that goes like this: All Men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is mortal. I'm coming to the end of Copelston's first volume on the history of philosophy, and he is covering a number of schools that were big names in the later Roman Empire, such as the Cynics and the Skeptics . In reading over what some of these schools taught, I am struck from time to time on the similarities to some so called modern schools. It goes to prove, I think, that there really is nothing new under the sun . Here, Copelston is describing and critiquing one of the Skeptics: Sextus Empiricus (c. A.D. 250), who is our main source for details of Skeptic doctrine, argued against the possibility of proving any conclusion syllogistically. The major premise - for instance, "All men are mortal" - can be proved only by a complete induction. But the complete induction involves a knowledge of the conc...

My wife has beaten me to the punch in posting about it, but we saw the sci fi flick The Island last night. We didn't see it just because Scarlett Johansson was in the film, although that might be a fine reason. We've been seeing a lot of films in the theatres this summer, something we have not done much of for some time. I think we've hit most of the blockbusters and The Island , while not as good as could have been, is not a shabby flick at all. The film is also surprisingly friendly to pro life concerns - Ewan MacGregor and Johansson play a pair of runaway clones, fleeing the facility that created them merely to be an insurance plan for its wealthy clients - one of whom is the president of the United States. The film is beautifully shot, with some terrific lighting that reminded me of Ridley Scott's Black Hawk Down . Scott had nothing to do with this one, however. Micheal Bay directed and he does a pretty fair job. For Bay that means he actually let the story b...

I rather suspect that these creeps would not behave this way in the home country, where there are few Christians to harass and the law will be swift to act on the crime and on contempt for the proceedings. The story? Four brothers from Pakistan visit Australia and go on a years long rape spree : Some victims were repeatedly raped at knifepoint and told they would be killed if they went to police. The brothers videotaped their rapes, and the tapes show another dozen possible victims. The police have not been able to find them all and some did not want to come forward. The victims who did make complaints breathed a sigh of relief on Monday, when the oldest brother, MSK, pleaded guilty to the aggravated sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl in July 2002. That spared the victim from having to give evidence and brought the series of trials to an end. The brutality of the crime, the last to go to trial, was typical. Before raping the girl, MSK told her he had strangled a girlfriend and hun...

It was my fate today to have a busy day and have not been able to blog anything, or give much thought to a question that occurred to me this morning. In Copelston's history of philosophy I came across a quote from Seneca , a stoic philosopher: Ducunt volentem fata, nolentem trahunt. Translated from the Latin, it means "the willing are led by fate, the unwilling dragged along by it." How does that compare with this quote from Aquinas : Believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the divine truth by command of the will moved by God through grace . (It's the same one put up here yesterday). At first glace mostly what I see is that Seneca is much more fatalistic, and his notion of God is more removed, impersonal and indifferent. Anyone want to add to that? There's probably more to be said.

I do not seek to understand that I may believe, but I believe in order to understand. For this I believe--that unless I believe, I should not understand. That is quote number #41 in the list of 100 Catholic quotes at Sancta Sanctis . Bonus marks if you were able to guess it is from St. Anselm. I also like this one, number #57, from St. Aquinas: Believing is an act of the intellect assenting to the divine truth by command of the will moved by God through grace. There are many more... the list was seven hours in the making.

From The New Atlantis : It is something of a modern habit of thought (strange to say) to conceive of the soul—whether we believe in the soul or not—as a kind of magical essence or ethereal intelligence indwelling a body like a ghost in a machine. That is to say, we tend to imagine the relation between the soul and the body as an utter discontinuity somehow subsumed within a miraculous unity: a view capable of yielding such absurdities as the Cartesian postulate that the soul resides in the pituitary gland or the utterly superstitious speculation advanced by some religious ethicists that the soul may “enter” the fetus some time in the second trimester. But the “living soul” of whom scripture speaks, as John Paul makes clear in his treatment of the creation account in Genesis, is a single corporeal and spiritual whole , a person whom the breath of God has awakened from nothingness. The soul is life itself, of the flesh and of the mind; it is what Thoma...

The National Review cribs from a post a I did a few days ago (well, almost): The randomness of the mutation cannot be demonstrated or proved; it is simply an article of belief, no different in character from a belief that an intelligent Creator nudged the adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine bases of that DNA strand into the right order. Or that he took the clay of archaic homo sapiens and molded Adam in His own image. At bottom the dispute between Evolutionists and Creationists always comes down to the question, " What is random? " This is the cage that Cardinal Christoph Schonborn rattled in his op-ed in the New York Times, July 7, where he wrote, "Evolution in the sense of common ancestry might be true, but evolution in the neo-Darwinian sense — an unguided, unplanned process of random variation and natural selection — is not." Now the director of the Vatican Observatory, Father George Coyne, has published a rebuttal in British Catholic weekly, The Tablet, ...

Demographics leading to a 33% GST? Niall Ferguson and Laurence J. Kotlikoff, in The New Republic , are offering up solutions for reforming American social security programs, programs that are predicted to come under serious strain in the future due to changes in demographics. We can learn a lot about the kind of suggestions Ferguson is going to advance by perusing the kind of books he writes . Are you ready? Ferguson and Kotlikoff are proposing a national sales tax, something along the lines of the Goods and Services Tax that we have been paying in Canada for years now. Our GST is set at 7% and is much reviled. Here is a look at the proposed Federal Retail Sales Tax (FRST): The sales tax would be levied on all final-consumption goods and services. Its tax rate would be set at 33 percent--high enough to cover the costs of the new New Deal's Social Security and health care reforms as well as meet the government's other spending needs. This rate sounds high compared with an in...

Girl on the Right is right. It is hard to blog when the office you blog from has turned into an oven. With that admission, I will take my leave tonight and turn you over to James Lileks' Interior Desecrations . If you've already been, you know how good it is. If not, what are you waiting for? (I will admit that my early years did involve growing up in rooms like these. It probably contributed to my love for things like the Lileks site and my young fogey-ness.)

Long time readers know how fond of GK Chesterton I am. Here, James V. Schall, S.J. shares in the delight : If our lives are disordered, however, it is likely that we do not experience any delight in truth because we actively prevent ourselves from seeing the splendor that is there. We can seek, like the young Augustine, all those beautiful things, without letting ourselves aver to why they might be beautiful in the first place. We want things before we appreciate what they are in their fullness – the exact opposite of the right order of things. We oftentimes suspect where truth might lead us, so we cleverly refuse to go there without ever honestly spelling out to ourselves what we are doing. We choose to deceive ourselves. We build an apparently plausible "counter-truth" to justify how we choose to live. We quietly put aside in our hearts any comparison between what we do and what we ought to do. The good, the true, and the beautiful, however, are interrelated in ways that c...