Future Primitive

The man-made, scapegoat-rich environment of the present financial crisis has shown that technology - or "smarter math" as the new IBM ads would have it - does not mitigate against human fallenness. It exacerbates it exponentially.

As mimetic theory posits on the basis of the archaeological record, the ignoring and/or rejection of the Judeo-Christian influence that is haute couture will not result in the progressivists' pipe dream of a secular-science based utopia; far from it. What we can expect is a newer, more technologically enhanced paganism. Take my word for it; it won't be pretty.

Solitude

Into Great Silence

The sense of panic and abject fear is palpable today. The internet and endless supply of news on cable television, while valuable, can turn TVs and computers into veritable palantiri – never lying, but always leading the merely mortals who see what is to be seen there to misunderstanding.

From this despair and gnawing helplessness, I suggest setting aside time each day for solitude: prayer before the Blessed Sacrament (if feasible), private contemplative prayer, lectio divina, the Rosary, even viewing Into Great Silence; in short, time to "be still and know that I AM God" (Ps 46,10).

The late Henri Nouwen reflects on the utter necessity of such solitude - for sanity, civility, community, and service in the world in his important book, Clowning in Rome.

How can solitude help our world? How can we, by practicing solitude, bring love into the world? In our emergency-oriented society, fear and anger have become powerful forces. Not only do we see ... daily ... people driven together by fear or bound together by anger, but we also start to realize that many of us in our families and communities are plagued by a restlessness tainted by fear and anger. We search to satisfy a growing need for community that offers a sense of belonging, a place where frustrations can be expressed, disappointments shared, and pains healed. We who in the past felt quite secure and self-confident today suffer from self-doubt, and sometimes from a deep sense of powerlessness ...

For this reason we will take a very careful look at the importance of solitude in our lives. It might be that by de-emphasizing solitude in favor of the urgent needs of our world, we have endangered the very basis of our lives as Christian witnesses.

Waterhouse - PRB

Spring (1900) - John William Waterhouse

BXVI to the Scimitar

ZENIT covers the Holy Father's remarks to Muslims in Cameroon here.

Parrish

Millpond - Maxfield Parrish

Benedict XVI in Cameroon

YAOUNDE, CAMEROON — Religion must reject violence, Pope Benedict XVI told Muslim leaders Thursday before celebrating an open-air Mass in front of thousands and delivering a message of hope for Africa's expanding, vibrant Catholic flock ...

Earlier, the pope met with 22 representatives of Cameroon's sizable Muslim minority and noted that religion is the basis of human civilization. He also returned to one of the key themes of his papacy, saying there is no incompatibility between faith and reason.

"Genuine religion ... stands at the base of any authentically human culture," he said. "It rejects all forms of violence and totalitarianism: not only on principles of faith but also of right reason."

The pope said "religion and reason mutually reinforce one another" and urged Catholics and Muslims to work together "to build a civilization of love."

Christians and Muslims largely coexist without problems in Cameroon, unlike in neighboring Nigeria, where religious strife has often exploded into violence.

"May the enthusiastic cooperation of Muslims, Catholics and other Christians in Cameroon be a beacon to other African nations of the enormous potential of an inter-religious commitment to peace, justice and the common good," Benedict said.

Read all … [ht: Real Clear Religion]

McCotter

Condoms a solution do not make

For the record, I stand with the Holy Father.

Many more do too, according to the Curt Jester in The Pope’s still Catholic.

UPDATE: Pope Benedict XVI hits the nail on the head in one.

FURTHER UPDATES:

March 19, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Edward C. Green, director of the AIDS Prevention Research Project at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, has said that the evidence confirms that the Pope is correct in his assessment that condom distribution exacerbates the problem of AIDS.

"The pope is correct," Green told National Review Online Wednesday, "or put it a better way, the best evidence we have supports the pope's comments."

MercatorNet’s Michael Cook takes up the standard.

Terror Novas

As the inevitable standardized test taking time of year comes round again, I see our newer faculty faced with the prospect of their students making them look bad by their low scores. Ah, the panic.

Suddenly, I realize with an unexpected dread that there is no way (or IS there?) to spin their effort, their indifference, their ineptitude, their forgetfulness. I can't blame it on my predecessor or last year's teacher (well, maybe a little - "I couldn't make up THAT much ground. What can one expect?")

And this leads me to realize how gifted certain people are at avoiding such confrontations their whole life long. Wow. It is impressive even if massively shirking. How many people do you know who, unlike Rousseau, never were put under a master? Awesome job, old chap.

What one must then deal with is one's own feelings of resentment toward those who besmirch one's abilities. And why do we fear being cast in a bad light? We fear it because it may show that we are indeed victim-fodder for the fickle finger of Fate; that our ontological substantiation is indeed sub-standard to that of the Psalmist (139); that our fear of looking bad is greater than our ability to love and forgive.

In short, how much we are still slaves to the power of the primitive sacred.

Depression Meal Preparation

Future Campaign Funds

Why should he bite the hand that fed him?

UPDATE: See?

Too late to jump out

I am convinced by the truism regarding a frog and boiling water. If we brought anyone - anyone - from your hometown in the 1950's to present-day America, he would think, correctly, that we'd lost our social, spiritual, and psychological marbles.

I believe the same holds true for the state of assimilation - or lack thereof - of the Scimitar in poor old England. Thing is, apparently there too, none of persons who should be concerned are. As this story points out.

Persons for Profits

Jill Fallon points out the tragic and, from the prophetic viewpoint, sinful results of the economic stimulus efforts of the Last Self-Help Administration here.

Hacker

Fire Fancies ( 1891) - Arthur Hacker

When push comes to shove

Whilst the concern grows that they don't have a clue what they're supposed to be doing (trust me here), I have no doubts about the American soul.

Let someone just try something fishy. Just see what happens. I still have strong faith in America and Americans, them notwithstanding.

Doomed to Repeat Them

Our Lady of the Crag, Knaresborough, North Yorkshire

Here is what I consider a valuable discussion regarding similarities between the sad, so-called English "reformation" and the secularist state's arrogant and rapacious effort to silence Mother Church's voice, again.

Let me say that a good friend whose opinions I value greatly carries an animus against Fra Angelo. But this analysis is ostensibly too important to disregard for past regrettable events. The penal era in England has too much to teach us today not to examine comparisons and contrasts.

'Apparently Unconvertible' Religion

For the record, Father James V. Schall, S. J., on Hilaire Belloc's assessment of the Scimitar as the "apparently unconvertible" religion here.

Two Pieces of Good News - Maybe

Having said this, what is this about?

And, then, Spencer brings this from the Netherlands. Is it an ever so slight turning of the tide?