January 2010
13 posts
A frightening new genre: the post-modern... →
“When bad comes along here, you simply jump out of your story into another one: Click. Evil is therefore unreal.”
An excellent defense of Hannah Arendt in light of... →
Theology, Culture, and Suffering
Today the feast of St. Gregory the Theologian is celebrated in the Orthodox Church. A saint, unfortunately I know very little about and who happens to be the patron saint of the chaplaincy I attend. He is one of the the three hierarchs of the Church—St. Basil the Great, known for his purity, St. John of Chrysostom known for eloquence and of course St. Gregory the Theologian, known,...
A response to Pat Robertson's fatuous assessment... →
“But even if I find it highly doubtful that the Prince of Darkness can legitimately claim Haiti as his bonded fief, I think it fair to say that, in many other ways, the nation has been bedeviled throughout its history—by colonial masters who relinquished their possessions with only the most brutal reluctance, by all the other colonial and regional powers with interests in the Caribbean...
Where was God in the Tsunami? (And in Haiti?) →
“Voltaire sees only the terrible truth that the actual history of suffering and death is not morally intelligible. Dostoevsky sees—and this bespeaks both his moral genius and his Christian view of reality—that it would be far more terrible if it were.”
Watchnplusonemag:
Xmas present: Video of the evangelicals panel with Caleb Crain, Malcolm Gladwell, Christine Smallwood, and James Wood. (New School, New York City, Dec. 8, 2009.) Video quality: Medium. Discussion quality: High.
“Thus his constant praise of friendship: “I look upon every day to be lost, in...”
– from Alan Jacobs’ essay on Samuel Johnson (via wesleyhill)
Watchthenewinquiry:
As a compliment to their Jane Austen exhibit, The Morgan Library has put together this short film, “Reflections on Austen.”
The film consists of interviews with scholars, philosophers, and authors (including Cornel West, Fran Lebowitz, Harriet Walter) and quotes on Austen from great writers in history, spliced together in the service of what is essentially a promotional tactic...
“Consider the change captured in the annual survey by the University of...”
– Career U. - Making College ‘Relevant’ - NYTimes.com (via ayjay)
Christening Peter Pan →
“Everyone understands that Peter, in Neverland, saves the Darling children from Captain Hook. Less widely understood is that this is tantamount to saving them in London from their fathers lack of parental love. Still less understood is that Peter saves the children by saving their father. No one is saved alone, as the present pope points out in his encyclical Spe Salvi; and many of us...
