Thursday, July 2, 2009
... the state of affairs described in the article referenced below.
(But then, God knows, the membership of the men's club known as magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church is nothing if not ... patriarchal.)
For a while this afternoon, the most e-mailed article of all the e-mailed articles in the New York Times was an article titled
U.S. Nuns Facing Vatican Scrutiny
Read the article, here.
This is the way my buddy Rick Garnett sees it (here):
Story here."
By contrast, this is a different way of seeing it:
The Obama Administration opposes the criminalization of abortion as, all things considered, a fitting way to respond to the tragedy of unwanted pregnancies
Story here.
"We are, after all, the church of the Medicis and the Borgias, the Papal States and the Avignon Papacy, the Documents of Discovery and anti-Modernism, the condemnation of "mixed" marriages and the rejection of the U.S. policy of separation of church and state. It may behoove us to be a bit more compassionate in our condemnations and a bit more humble in our attempts at political dialogue."
Thus writes Sister Joan Chittister, who is "a Benedictine Sister of Erie [and] a best-selling author and well-known international lecturer on topics of justice, peace, human rights, women's issues, and contemporary spirituality in the Church and in society." Read the column in which Sister Joan made the above-quoted statement, here.
I was going to recommend that MOJ-readers read an op-ed, and then noticed that Michael S had already done so (here). So let me just second Michael's recommendation. The author of the op-ed, Leah Ward Sears, "stepped down this week as Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court. In 1992, she became the first woman -- and youngest person -- appointed to Georgia's highest court." And since we're talking about Georgia, where I now live (assuming that Atlanta is part of Georgia, which is not clear), let me add that Justice Sears is African American.
After reading the op-ed (here), consider this: The emergence of same-sex marriage is no threat to the future of traditional marriage, but even if you disagree with me about that, our casual attitude toward divorce is (as Mary Ann Glendon once suggested to me) a much more serious threat--and yet we spend much less time and energy addressing *that* threat. Why are our priorities so skewed?!
Story here.
It's too big to summarize well here, but I think MOJ readers would enjoy the fascinating conversation that is rollicking along at First Things' "Postmodern Conservative" blog (here) and "Front Porch Republic" (here). Take a look also at Jody Bottum's contribution, at "First Thoughts (here). And, for a refresher, check out the many MOJ posts -- including this one -- regarding Philip Bess's work on urbanism. Great, challenging stuff.
I am pleased to announce that Prof. Greg Alexander, an accomplished Property scholar at Cornell -- and the colleague of our own Steve Shiffrin and Eduardo Penalver -- has agreed to join our merry MOJ band of Catholic Legal Theory bloggers. Welcome, Greg! (For a very helpful electronic collection of Greg's scholarship, go here.)
Leah Ward Sears, former Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court, writes from a gut wrenching personal persptective:
The coupling and uncoupling we've become accustomed to undermines our democracy, destroys our families and devastates the lives of our children, who are not as resilient as we may wish to think. The one-parent norm, which is necessary and successful in many cases, nevertheless often creates a host of other problems, from poverty to crime, teen pregnancy and drug abuse.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
I have just posted a new paper in which I try to develop a Thomistic account of interpersonal forgiveness. Aruging that forgiveness is the form love takes on the part of a person who has been offended, I resist the claims of those who would assimilate forgiveness to a conditional act such as reconciliation. My account of forgiveness begins in natural human teleology and proceeds to consider what grace adds in terms of our ability to love ourselves and then our offenders. Comments would be welcome.
From a WSJ op-ed yesterday:
Hugo Chávez's coalition-building efforts suffered a setback yesterday when the Honduran military sent its president packing for abusing the nation's constitution.
It seems that President Mel Zelaya miscalculated when he tried to emulate the success of his good friend Hugo in reshaping the Honduran Constitution to his liking.
But Honduras is not out of the Venezuelan woods yet. Yesterday the Central American country was being pressured to restore the authoritarian Mr. Zelaya by the likes of Fidel Castro, Daniel Ortega, Hillary Clinton and, of course, Hugo himself. The Organization of American States, having ignored Mr. Zelaya's abuses, also wants him back in power. It will be a miracle if Honduran patriots can hold their ground.
For the rest, click here.
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