Here’s today’s condensed grab bag, concurrently Tweeted and Facebooked:
Does authentic democracy require not only the rule of law, but a correct conception of the human person? Robert John Araujo, SJ, thinks so, and cites John Paul II’s 1991 encyclical letter Centesimus Annus in support. The question is very practical, as the context of Araujo’s remarks demonstrate. Put it another way: can we democratically repeal the law of gravity? (Yeah: I’m suggesting “human nature” is singular, not plural, in a fundamental sense.)
At Public Discourse (a new favorite discovery), Anthony Esolen (with whose writings I’m well acquainted but not generally all that fond), usefully distinguishes, in the context of critiquing the sexual revolution, utilitarian arguments from more fundamental arguments — coincidentally dovetailing with the view that there is such a thing as “Human Nature,” shared by Esolen’s fellow Catholic, Araujo (et moi). Reductionists, no doubt, will snort and scoff …
Mitt Romney wants to bask in the limelight of Whitey Bulger’s capture, and with at least a sliver of justification.
WaPo Columnist Matt Miller advances an interesting idea for Obama to break gridlock on the debt ceiling talks. It’s a droll bit of political jujitsu.
Neocon Charles Krauthammer writes of the obsolescence of the War Powers Act and its Constitutional dubiousness. Nothing really new here, but if you didn’t worry about WPA during Republican years (and many didn’t – see this on GOP “War Powers Opportunism,” if you can penetrate the pay wall), a reminder may be in order.
My crystal ball generally is no good, but I called this one in 2008: Obama was never sincere, and left escape routes, in his belief “as a Christian” that marriage should be between a man and a woman. No Democrat as left as Obama dare buck the gay rights or abortion lobbies, and Obama is gradually getting on board with gay marriage (likely pay wall: gist is, he talked purty to a gay rights gala in New York Thursday night where a legislative battle is raging). The late Joe Sobran was right: the Democrats have become, among other things, the “vote your vice Party” (though avarice is a vice, too, and the Republicans have learned to pander very well to that).
But is marriage a hand the Republicans can play well? Apart from albatrosses like Newt and The Appalachian Trail Hiker, they have only talking points, not a real clue. Having read a piece on marriage by jurisprudential philosopher John Finnis the other day, I’m convinced that we have really made a mess of marriage. Some wag once said that Unitarians believe in, at most, one God. Many Americans could be said to have had at most one marriage, if marriage is understood in rigorous depth. But even in the shallows, I think serial monogamy and no-fault divorce may have killed marriage; SSM is just the maggots feasting on the corpse. The corpse will rise again some day, because of Human Nature (singular), but we’re in for rocky times for a while.
Religious institutions that have been downplaying their distinctives take note: the more you look like just any secular institution, the more you risk being denied conscience exemptions to Nanny State laws. (Are Catholic Colleges Catholic Enough? Federal regulators pass judgment on religious character. Wall Street Journal 6/24/11. Likely pay wall.) I can even imagine those churches who have essentially allowed themselves to become wedding chapels for any comer who wants the facility (when it’s not already booked), including allowing laymen or clergy of other traditions to officiate, being forced as a public accommodation to accommodate weddings they find abhorrent.
From the Department of Common Ground, Barney Frank and Ron Paul Introduce Bill that Would Legalize Marijuana Under Federal Law.
Surprise, surprise! Google wants business to pay per click. If you try to get Google to point people to your website any other way, you’re fighting a behomoth.
From the Department of New Toys, Fitbit. When you’ve been fighting fat as long as I have, and you’re gaining ground through fundamentals like eating less than you burn (and counting to be sure you are), a device that helps you calculate burn, and that integrates with LoseIt!, is worth even full retail (which I didn’t pay).
Bon appetit!
Tipsy Teetotaler ن 