The Orthodox and Catholic Christian patriarchs of Syria have made a plea to Western countries and their citizens, especially to their fellow Christians in the West. This statement, follows on similar pleas over the years by Christians, including Orthodox and Catholic bishops, from various countries in Southwest Asia, a region which we Westerners, especially Americans, … [Read more…]
In a recent article, Sacred Music. An Appeal To Restore Hearing To the Deaf, the Italian Catholic journalist, Sandro Magister, writes of criticism by musicians and musician-scholars of the loss of tradition in the liturgical music in the Roman Catholic Church: “This disdain for Gregorian chant and traditional repertoires is one sign of a much … [Read more…]
A good question: Why did Peter, the shepherd of the flock of Christ, go to Rome, the center of earthly power in its most centralized and most brutal manifestation yet seen. [In fact, we shouldn’t forget that China was at a similar level of power and wealth, but no higher so far as I know.] … [Read more…]
There are those who prefer facts and rational thought. There are even those who are Christians and realize that participation in a campaign of lies against a man or a country is a mortal sin. Moreover, Christians should realize that a mind deformed by lies is a disordered mind, a mind of a human being … [Read more…]
I’m going to slightly misuse a quote from Wittgenstein: Doubt itself rests only on what is beyond doubt. [On Certainty, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Harper Torchbooks, 1972, page 68e] He was writing about knowledge inside of a `language game’, which I think to be something like the active use of a hypothetical dictionary and grammar of what … [Read more…]
I don’t think we ever had our religion in the United States, at least not a true Biblical religion. From an early period, immigrants to this country considered themselves largely freed of the traditions of their home countries, including their Christian traditions. They thought to retain the title of `Christian’ without letting anyone tell them … [Read more…]
This article hardly surprises me: Belief in Hell, According to International Data, Is Associated With Reduced Crime. The findings summarized in the article also don’t make me happy. I would advise against any major effort to scare sinners away from Hell because that doesn’t mean they will necessarily go to Heaven. If they do go … [Read more…]
There is an argument of sorts being conducted in the Catholic Church between those who think the Fathers of the Vatican Council II erred in claiming God grants religious freedom to human beings and those who think Truth must always be served by…well, by serving some established view of the Truth. See Religious Freedom. Was … [Read more…]
I’ve recently reread Kenneth Minogue’s The Liberal Mind and might be publishing some articles over the next few weeks on thoughts that book raised. For now, I’ve got to address the question in the title, “What is politics?” from the viewpoint of my effort to enrich and expand our understanding of the Body of Christ … [Read more…]
Paul Gottfried is a political scientist always worth reading, his books and his short writings on the Internet. In this article, What Drives the Religious Right , he made some good points about the nature of the religious right, predominately Evangelical Protestant though I know some Catholics who’ve taken up with their way of thought, … [Read more…]