Sailing the Last Voyage with Newton and Pascal
In early February we were regaled by a debate between Bill Nye and Ken Ham over "creationism vs. evolutionism" which attracted more attention than it deserved. I'm tempted to move on about this except for this fawning piece in the New Republic (lefties can certainly be sycophants when the situation calls for it, something Barack …
Continue reading "My Thoughts on Bill Nye, the (so-called) "Science Guy""
Century 35625 (1963?) One of the frustrating things about our culture is that everyone "markets" what they do as brand new. That includes Christian music. Music leaders, composers, and publishers would like to think that the move away from "traditional" Christian hymnody (and they usually fail to define "traditional") is all recent and the music …
(Note: the Markov chain example starts about halfway through the post). One of the issues that the Roman Catholic Church wrestles with on an ongoing basis concerns the status of those politicians which a) profess and call themselves Roman Catholics yet b) show that they do not ascribe to the teaching of the Church in …
In response to my post Think Before You Convert, George comes back with some tough observations, which I reproduce below, with my comments interspersed: I’m a catholic and this church feels so empty that I cannot recommend anyone to convert into the RCC. I am one of those “too enthusiastic” types, reading the Bible, volunteering …
Continue reading "Unloading on Roman Catholicism: A View From the Pew"
Agapè AG-2001 (1972) The styles of the "Jesus Music" era varied from group to group, reflecting the popular music of the era. The concept was that the music "become all things to all men, so as at all costs to save some." (1 Corinthians 9:22 TCNT) The old rockers celebrated then (and still do now) …
Continue reading "Agapè – Le Troisième Seuil (The Third Level)"
The Pentecostal and Charismatic world has been atwitter (a phrase with new meaning these days) about the conversion of Ulf Ekman, Sweden's foremost Charismatic pastor, to Roman Catholicism. My friend Dale Coulter has a more "respectable" take on this, and he's right: it's easier to make the Tiber swim from a Full Gospel start than …
Continue reading "From One Who's Been There: My Thoughts on Ulf Ekman's Conversion to Catholicism"
One trait that's deeply cultivated in this country--to a fault, really--is perseverance. How many times have we heard that "winners never quit and quitters never win"? How many times have we heard stories about people who have "pursued their dream" often a great cost (to someone) and accomplished what they set out to do. Isn't …
Continue reading "The Real Enemies of Perseverance–and Success"
This Cincinnati, OH, based group put out two very nice folk-rock albums. There is a mixture of original compositions and covers, some of which (well, one of which) you wouldn't expect on a non-Catholic album. The group does well in different styles and these albums are very good as a result. More information about the …
Continue reading "Rising Hope: Farewell to the Shadowlands and Where the Songs Come From"
It's always interesting to follow the various artists that grace this blog. One of them, Ian Mitchell of American Folk Mass fame, was featured a little while ago when I discovered that the L.A. Times reported on Halloween 1985 that he had been given the boot at St. Athanasius Episcopal Church. That took place because …
Continue reading "Out of the Frying Pan Into the Fire: Ian Mitchell Was Replaced by Jon Bruno"
Oblate OBLP 1001 (1981) Followers of this blog know that, if an album combines "Texas" and "Catholic," I'm generally interested. This album, which is a little later than most of the albums on this site, goes against the grain of where Christian music was going in the early 1980's (and that's also somewhat true of …
Positive Infinity 