Posted on 01/14/2006 8:13:49 PM PST by RWR8189
The mind reels.
This is a very interesting op ed piece, and I think he hit ahome run in his evaluation of what is going on in the political arena regarding Catholic voters.
Piffle.
Now that is a great article.
bump 4 later
Good article. Jody Bottum is a trained philosopher (with a PhD), and it shows in his clarity of thought. I once had lunch with him in New York, before he moved on to the Weekly Standard and then back again to First Things. He's an interesting guy.
And he's right about the importance of just war theory, natural law, and some of the systematic thought that is coming back into our public culture. The bishops and the catechists have absolutely zero to do with this trend. It's the self-educated Catholics who are doing it, with the help of journals like First Things and of a few groups behind the scenes, such as the Association of Catholic Scholars and Opus Dei.
With all the illegal immigrants flooding in from Mexico, I imagine the Catholic population is growing like a weed in this country, for good or not.
Too true. Watch how silent the bishops will be as the anniversary of Roe v. Wade comes up. Watch how the wealth of the Church is consumed by lawyers.
Excellent article!
Thanks for posting this. In its long history, the Catholic Church has confronted every possible challenge and has developed a wide and deep intellectual response. Its modern Popes, as evidenced especially by the last two, have been scholars and intellectuals able to hold their own in any contest (e.g. Ratzinger versus Habermas.)Disciplined and thoughtful lawyers like Roberts and Alito are natural heirs to this tradition. On the other hand, no one has ever accused Kennedy, Biden, Durbin and their ilk of being either thoughtful or intellectuals.
bumpus ad summum
There are so many Catholics that are the opposite. We should have a truth in label law.
It is poor attitudes like yours that instill feelings of animosity in the ranks of modern Christianity.
Like it or not, Catholics and Protestants should be focusing their efforts on the peace and prosperity of Christianity itself.
To attack one section of Christianity in this day and age, is to waste time.
Focus more energy on stopping Islamofascism, abortion, Murtha, Kerry, Pelosi, etc...
The "Church Age" is over, claim some. If it is over it means Roman Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Etc., "Church Age" is over. What replaces or succeeds the Age is the future and it is here now! The relgious future is in the Southern Hemispheres. Christianity is growing by leaps and bounds in Africa and Asia. The Anglican Catholic Church, for one, is already into these areas. The future looks bright!
"It is poor attitudes like yours that instill feelings of animosity in the ranks of modern Christianity.
Like it or not, Catholics and Protestants should be focusing their efforts on the peace and prosperity of Christianity itself.
To attack one section of Christianity in this day and age, is to waste time."
I think you got me pegged all wrong. I was just stating the Catholic population is most likely growing very fast in this country. I have NOTHING against any section of Christianity or Jews. There is an old thread, don't know what it's called, where some FReepers was complaing about Alito being Catholic and how he wanted a Protestant since he felt that section was responsible the most for president Bush's reelection. I took him to task over that. Christian is Christian to me.
I'm a Baptist by the way.
Much of this explains the success of Catholics Against Kerry. We were able to reach many catholics who, although they do not go to mass, were nonetheless, NOT willing to sit by and let Kerry mock true Catholics by claiming to be one.
Disciplined and thoughtful lawyers like Roberts and Alito are natural heirs to this tradition.
I wonder how much this is due to the Catholic school system which flowered last century. Now it is mostly a joke, but back then it was where one went for high end education at low end prices.
Perhaps it is time for Christians to really make an effort at their private schools.
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