The Culture Wars: Plato, Shakespeare, Hesse, Eliot
WN: My good friend Ron Dart sent me this lecture on the Culture Wars. It’s enlightening. There are many more on the High Tory Reader YouTube channel as well.
Sing, Choirs of Angels
By Sr. Carino Hodder, OP December 9, 2020 WN: Quite lovely. Quite heartening. excerpts: “O, little town of Bethlehem,” said my devoutly Sikh taxi driver. “How still we see thee lie. Above thy deep and . . .” (I chimed in from the back seat, providing the elusive word) – “dreamless – thank you – […]
Vandana Shiva: The Great Seed Piracy
June 21, 2016 Vandana Shiva Environment photo above: Source: The Asian Age WN: The account of the article highlighted below is compelling and tragic. excerpts: A great seed and biodiversity piracy is underway and it must be stopped. The privateers of today include not just the corporations — which are becoming fewer and larger through […]
Into This Demented Inn
Into This Demented Inn –Thomas Merton Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ has come uninvited. But because he cannot be at home in it – because he is out of place in it, and yet must be in it – his place is […]
Commentary on: “The Invention of Thanksgiving”
By Philip Deloria November 18, 2019 image above: The Indians who joined the mistrustful Pilgrims, Wampanoag tradition suggests, were honoring a mutual-defense pact. Illustration by Rui Tenreiro WN: If the article highlighted below shocks the reader, I suggest gently that you have grown up on a different planet . . . It is a story […]
What is “Evangelical” Theology?
November 4, 2019 by Scot McKnight WN: In my book review of Kristin Kobes du Mez’ outstanding Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, I write: In essence therefore, being “conservative evangelical” “is as much about culture as it is about theology.” (p. 9) And therein lies its […]
The Teacher Who Never Spoke
By Maureen Swinger November 22, 2021 WN: So beautiful. So very humbling. So complicatedly hopeful. excerpts: [su_dropcap]T[/su_dropcap]he summer my brother Duane turned twenty, a formidable young man stayed with us on a break from the Ivy League. He had never, to anyone’s knowledge, lost an argument. Several weeks into his visit, my mother walked into […]
All the Lawyers Who Stood Between Ahmaud Arbery and Justice
Pilar Melendez November 24, 2021 photo above: groyourwealth.com WN: An enormous tragedy . . . A muted victory . . . A deepseated racism . . . See too: Ken Sehested, Accountability for the murder of Ahmaud Arbery, November 24, 2021. We read: Then my mind traversed to the penal system’s dysfunction. Travis McMichael, his […]
Learning to Love Recklessly
Dorothy Day Whenever I groan within myself and think how hard it is to keep writing about love in these times of tension and strife, which may at any moment become for us all a time of terror, I think to myself, “What else is the world interested in?” What else do we all want, […]
New Revelations Emerge on How Donald Trump Killed 400,000 (or More) Americans
David Corn Washington, DC, Bureau Chief, Bio | Follow photo above: President Donald Trump at a coronavirus task force briefing at the White House, on March 22, 2020, with Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Vice President Mike Pence, and FEMA head Peter Gaynor. Patrick Semansky/AP WN: The concluding lines […]
Announcing: “First Nations Version An Indigenous Translation of the New Testament”
WN: The Lord’s Prayer in this version is beautiful! Please view its reading below. A few sample passages follow the video. I’m excited to read the Story afresh through First Nations People on Turtle Island, who have suffered so much–and that suffering continues!–under us White Settlers. excerpt: The Great Spirit loves this world of human […]
Paper and Story: “The Sex Offender as Scapegoat”
John 12:20 – 33; John 11:49-52: 49But one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! 50You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.” 51Caiaphas did not say this on […]
Thoughts on: “White People Explain Racism to Me”
By Elie Mystal Twitter November 15, 2021 photo above: (Fizkes / Shutterstock) WN: We Whites, lacking the lifelong experiences described in the article highlighted below, just don’t begin to get it. Anymore than a victim of serious and violent crime knows no one but others similarly harmed really get it. The next best, which is […]
Commentary on: “Gomez, painting Catholics as victims, goes after his woke oppressors”
Nov 10, 2021 by Thomas Reese, Religion News Service Opinion Politics photo above: Wikipedia WN: I felt gobsmacked by the Archbishop’s earlier speech. More: I felt embarrassed to identify as a Christian alongside such seeming anti-Christ sentiments (though I’m not Roman Catholic). As I read that article, I kept thinking, surely he’ll pull up from […]
Who Knew Being Silent With Monks Could Be So Liberating?
Sarah Sands Nov. 10, 2021 photo above: Education Images WN: Beautifully written: the deafening joy of silence . . . excerpts: [su_dropcap]I[/su_dropcap] watched Of Gods and Men on a winter’s afternoon in Norfolk because a great Dominican friar and priest, named [pullquote]Fr. Adolfo Nicolas, the former Superior General of the Jesuits, believes that the most profound […]
Two Comedic Takes on Climate Change; One Challenging Renewables
WN: The first two are funny, making generous use of a beautiful smiling face and the word f**k and related. You may view many more such. The last makes sense. Many others along similar lines are available to view.
Jordan Peterson: Sic et Non
WN: Ron has been a longstanding friend–over many decades. I’ve been privileged to work with him on writing projects; read much of his writings; join the Contemplative Order of Sons of the Holy Cross Order co-founded by him; often visit in his home; hike new mountain trails with him–literally and metaphorically; and throughout the Pandemic […]
Passages to New Life
Now & Then Podcast In this week’s episode of Henri Nouwen, Now & Then, author and artist Carol A. Berry reveals how Vincent van Gogh’s life and work influenced Henri Nouwen’s spirituality and his desire to live an authentically compassionate life. LISTEN NOW WN: What is below is so very wise and hopeful.DAILY MEDITATION | NOVEMBER 9, 2021 […]
Announcement of “Hit CS Lewis biopic ‘The Most Reluctant Convert’ highlights author’s dramatic conversion”
CP Entertainment | Monday, November 08, 2021 By Leah MarieAnn Klett, Christian Post Editor photo above: “The Most Reluctant Convert: The Untold Story of C.S. Lewis.” | 1A Productions WN: C.S. Lewis’ piece, “Right and Wrong as a Clue to the Meaning of the Universe (see also video below),” that I first read in our Grade […]
The Horror of: “ ‘It’s being abused by an entire belief system’: a haunting film on sexual abuse by Catholic clergy”
David Smith in Washington; @smithinamerica Tue 9 Nov 2021 WN: The dreadfulness of ‘It’s being abused by an entire belief system’ as it sinks in, is profoundly troubling. Such as well was the deeply disturbing belief system of Mennonite theologian John Howard Yoder, as seen in: “Prison, Sexual Assault, and Editing John Howard Yoder: One […]
Wisdom: “Thoughts on Freedom”
Life; Thanksgiving and Gratitude; Theology November 9, 2021 WN: The last lines of the meditation below are beautiful: Let us not build walls with hatred and rage. Let us meet in the open meadows of God’s love and peace. Amen. excerpts: The Cold War began after World War II, between the USA and Russia […]
Consider: “U.S. Covid Deaths Get Even Redder”
By David Leonhardt Nov. 8, 2021 photo above: Image by torstensimon from Pixabay WN: This remains consistent everywhere: vaccinations save lives. See too: Partisan Gap in Covid Deaths Growing Thanks to Right-Wing Vaccine Disinformation. We read: The fact that heavily Trump counties had over three times more Covid-19 deaths in October than heavily Biden counties […]
Walter Wink & “The Myth of Redemptive Violence”
November 8, 2021 by Robert Koehler WN: The author of the highlighted article below is right on. For background to Walter Wink’s use of the term, please see: Facing the Myth of Redemptive Violence The myth of redemptive violence and ‘The Hateful Eight’ Book Extract: The Powers That Be: Theology for a New Millennium by […]
The European Union makes a policy play in Venezuela.
by Anthony Faiola with Claire Parker photo above: istockphoto.com WN: Just as the “free press” is that only for the corporations who own the presses/news, so “Pro-Democracy” seems to be limited to the Pro-elites that run the world: namely militarized capitalism‘s titans such as Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos. A story such as that highlighted […]
Reflections on “Drone Strikes and Torture Will Cause Big Blowback”
November 5, 2021 by Brian Cloughley photo above: AK Rockefeller – CC BY 2.0 WN: It is ominous to read at the end of the highlighted article: Although the long-term consequences are measureless, there is no doubt that “explosive events” will blow back for a long time to come. The military-industrial complex has been manufacturing […]
Irrelevant Saints
By Terence Sweeney November 1, 2021 WN: A great challenge to everyday sainthood. excerpts: [su_dropcap]W[/su_dropcap]hen I made my First Communion, I received some money, a few rosaries, and copy of Picture Book of Saints. I don’t remember what I did with the money, and I lost the rosaries to my voracious dog. But the Picture […]
Highlighting: ” ‘Our ecological crisis is fundamentally a moral one’: Catholic Climate Covenant’s new executive director hopes to inspire care for creation”
Sarah Vincent November 4, 2021 photo above: Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash WN: Hope! excerpts: Pope Francis is not in attendance at the United Nations’ COP26 conference this week, but according to the new executive director of the Catholic Climate Covenant, Jose Aguto, the church will play an important part at the gathering. Our […]
Pope Francis meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
Gerard O’Connell November 04, 2021 photo above: Pope Francis and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas embrace during an audience at the Vatican Nov. 4, 2021. (CNS photo/Vatican Media) WN: Hope! excerpts: After Pope Francis and his senior advisors had separate meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the morning of Nov. 4, the Vatican issued a […]
If we’d listened to Cardinal Bernardin, the Catholic Church would not be so divided today
Steven P. Millies November 04, 2021 photo above: Cardinal Joseph Bernardin speaks with reporters on the steps of his Chicago residence just before his departure for Rome to meet with Pope John Paul II, Sept. 23, 1996. (AP Photo/Peter Barreras, File) WN: To the article highlighted below: Amen! excerpts: In Bernardin, Catholics had a leader […]
Highlighting “Absolute Carbon Reduction Is an ‘Issue of Life and Death’ for Indigenous Peoples”
By Amy Goodman Juan González, Democracy Now! Published November 2, 2021 photo above: flickr.com WN: Tom Goldtooth (Native American environmental, climate, and economic justice activist, speaker, film producer, and Indigenous rights leader within the climate and environmental justice and indigenous movement) sums up the challenge: Traditional knowledge means that the government is going to have […]
Nearly a Third of Republicans Surveyed Are Ready to Support Violence
By Matthew Rozsa, Salon Published November 2, 2021 photo above: aljazeera.com WN: Founder and CEO of PRRI, Robert Jones said: I’ve been doing this a while, for decades, and it’s not the kind of finding that as a sociologist, a public opinion pollster, that you’re used to seeing. This is deeply ominous . . . […]
Focus on “I’m With Condoleezza Rice About White Guilt”
By John McWhorter image above: Michael Morris WN: The writer makes a compelling case . . . excerpt: I can see how someone arrives at that perspective, because white guilt can seem so central to what Black progress needs to be about — emphasis on “seem.” We’re increasingly encouraged to dwell on “white privilege” […]