Home

  • Xi and Trump "Getting to Know" Meeting a Good Idea

    The Chinese present an interesting take on the upcoming meeting at Mar-a-Lago:

    Susan Thornton, acting assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said this was a chance for the two leaders to get to know one another.

    “We want them to establish a good working relationship, so they can, in times of opportunity and crisis, reach out to one another and have a good rapport,” she said.

    She described having the meeting in Florida as a good chance for the two leaders, in a more informal atmosphere and relaxed setting, to discuss serious and important issues and to try to kick off a good relationship at the outset of the Trump administration.

    That’s not a bad idea, one which I presented over a decade ago vis-a-vis the Iranians:

    A more productive approach would be to have a meeting in a venue where concrete results weren’t expected. In an American context, this means a golf course. Let’s say that Bush invites Ahmadinejad to Medina G&CC near Chicago. Since the clubhouse looks like a mosque, Ahmadinejad would think he was winning up front, which would make him overconfident, a besetting weakness of him. But on a golf course the two could size each other up face to face, watching as each other deals with the ups and downs of the game and each other. Then Bush could figure out how he might like to proceed based on what he saw himself rather than something stupid his advisers might come up with.

    In addition to the usual problem of Americans impatient for tangible results, Americans additionally don’t understand the importance of building trust before those results surface.  We’ll see if Donald Trump breaks the mould on this.

    He needs to: with the stakes as high as they are because of North Korea, he’s going to need all the patience and savvy he can muster.  It bothers me, however, that we’re sliding back into a line of moralistic bluster.  With everyone complaining about Rex Tillerson’s low profile (a typical oilfield method) and others doing big talk, the American propensity for posturing could easily lead to nuclear war.  (Just like the Senate…)

  • Obsession with "Principles" Spreads Across the Aisle

    It’s not just the Republicans any more, as is obvious in the current Democrat plans to filibuster Neil Gorsuch:

    “Not only is the base there, but the politics of the moment demand it. Democrats are looking for members to take a stand,” said Democratic strategist Jim Manley, a former top aide to Harry Reid, who altered the filibuster rules in 2013 to approve then-President Obama’s stalled executive appointees. “To the extent there is any peril, it would be struggling to find a way to vote for the guy.”

    Those of us who have spent years listening to movement conservatives (and religious ones) have heard “taking a stand” until we’re sick of it, especially when the results never improved.  Now the Democrats are going the principled, obstructionist route, which is the mirror image of the Freedom Caucus’ torpedoing of Ryan’s health care bill.  (That failure is a real gift to the GOP, although it will take time for that to become obvious.)

    You can’t win by “standing” on anything, principles or otherwise.  You have to go on offence.  Movement conservatives were great at taking stands, but ultimately the Republican electorate got tired of waiting for results and nominated Donald Trump.  For the Democrats to come up with an unconventional candidate will require forcing same on their risk-adverse (dare I say anal) elites, and that’s easier said than done.

  • A Lesbian Bishop Learns a Hard Lesson

    She got the boot from Jon Bruno:

    The Episcopal Church’s first “lesbian” bishop was forced out of office by the Bishop of Los Angeles after she defied him by backing the congregation of St James the Great in Newport Beach in its dispute over the proposed sale of its parish properties.

    On 29 March 2017, the attorney for the Rt. Rev. J. Jon Bruno, Bishop of Los Angeles, questioned the vicar of St James the Great, the Rev. Canon Cindy Evans Voorhees, about the events that led to Title IV ecclesiastical proceedings being lodged against the bishop.

    The bishop’s attorney. Julie Dean Larsen, alleged Canon Voorhees had orchestrated a campaign to discredit the bishop and had conspired with other members of the diocese to halt the sale of the St James the Great in Newport Beach to developers.

    One of the forgotten things in our rush for this new world is that, no matter how politically correct they are, if the people you’re dealing with lack basic integrity and transparency, ugly things will happen.  When Jon Bruno took over St. Athanasius church from Ian Mitchell, he told the LA Times that he was “no angel.”  The orthodox he evicted from the parishes he did know that, and now liberal lesbians such as Mary Glasspool know that, too.

    Note: the president of the Hearing Panel who is overseeing Jon Bruno’s ecclesiastical trial is Bishop Herman Hollerith IV.  I’m pretty sure he’s the great-grandson of the original Herman Hollerith, who invented the punch cards that were ubiquitous a generation ago in computers.  Perhaps Bruno has found someone who is as good at punching things out as he is.

  • The Way You'd Really Like a Young Person to Start Bible Study

    On his or her own initiative, as was the case with Bossuet.  From R. de la Broise’s Bossuet and the Bible, pp. xiv-xv:

    He was fifteen years old when a happy coincidence came to mind.  His father, who returned to Dijon from time to time, led him (Bossuet) to his office.  There the young man “threw his hand on a Latin Bible, which he took with his father’s permission.  It was the first time, studying in secondary school or in rhetoric, when he opened the holy Books.  He found a taste and a sublimity which made him prefer it to everything he had read until then.  He remembered and recalled it with pleasure, all through his life, when he had touched this reading for the first time.  This moment was always present and living to him as it was the first time, as his soul was struck with these things which left him with a more profound impression of joy and lights.”

    First note: that the Bible was in Latin wasn’t an obstacle for Bossuet or for most educated people of the day.

    Bossuet had been raised with both extracts from the Scriptures and of course the cycle of lectionary readings that came with the Mass.  But the enthusiasm with which he studied the Scriptures themselves is significant.

    Evangelicals are always looking for ways to get their young people to read and study the Bible.  And, truth be told, their efforts have not been match by the results: Biblical ignorance remains a serious problem these days, as shown by the popularity of things such as The Shack.

    I think the core of the problem is that the method of Evangelicals is geared toward those who lack basic curiosity about things.  As a result little is left to the imagination, especially in Biblical studies since the idea hangs on the Bible more than it hangs on God.  For many this works, but I am not convinced that it works for the kinds of leaders that Evangelicalism claims to be so enamoured with.

    The liturgical system presents a temporal framework for the presentation of eternal truth.  Sooner or later some will attempt to go “behind the curtain” and that’s what happened with Bossuet and the Scriptures.  May our presentation of God’s truth inspire that in more people!

    ,

  • The Five Lessons of Creation

    From Philo Judaeus, On the Creation of the World, LXI:

    And in his before mentioned account of the creation of the world, Moses teaches us also many other things, and especially five most beautiful lessons which are superior to all others.

    1. In the first place, for the sake of convicting the atheists, he teaches us that the Deity has a real being and existence. Now, of the atheists, some have only doubted of the existence of God, stating it to be an uncertain thing ; but others, who are more audacious, have taken courage, and asserted positively that there is no such thing; but this is affirmed only by men who have darkened the truth with fabulous inventions.

    2. In the second place he teaches us that God is one; having reference here to the assertors of the polytheistic doctrine men who do not blush to transfer that worst of evil constitutions, ochlocracy, from earth to heaven.

    3. Thirdly, he teaches, as has been already related, that the world was created; by this lesson refuting those who think that it is uncreated and eternal, and who thus attribute no glory to God.

    4. In the fourth place we learn that the world also which was thus created is one, since also the Creator is one, and he,making his creation to resemble himself in its singleness, employed all existing essence in the creation of the universe. For it would not have been complete if it had not been made and composed of all parts which were likewise whole and complete. For there are some persons who believe that there are many worlds, and some who even fancy that they are boundless in extent, being themselves inexperienced and ignorant of the truth of those things of which it is desirable to have a correct knowledge.

    5. The fifth lesson that Moses teaches us is, that God exerts his providence for the benefit of the world. For it follows of necessity that the Creator must always care for that which he has created, just as parents do also care for their children. And he who has learnt this not more by hearing it than by his own understanding, and has impressed on his own soul these marvellous facts which are the subject of so much contention namely, that God has a being and existence, and that he who so exists is really one, and that he has created the world, and that he has created it one as has been stated, having made it like to himself in singleness; and that he exercises a continual care for that which he has created will live a happy and blessed life, stamped with the doctrines of piety and holiness.

    I would suggest that you (especially if you’re NEC) read this in light of this piece.

    , , ,

  • The Geniuses Really Do Commit Suicide…Well, Some of Them

    We have some data on the issue:

    For the first time reliable data has shown that the suicide rate among people working in creative roles is significantly higher than the national average.

    The first-ever study of suicide by profession from the ONS, which covered England in the years from 2011 to 2015, showed that people who work in arts-related jobs are up to four times more likely to commit suicide.

    My prep school freshman and sophomore English teacher put my parents off with this:

    My parents had a far lower impression of this man, and much of that came from the first parent-teacher conference they went to.  The basic problem (although he wouldn’t put it this way) was that I was insufficiently deconstructionistic to suit his fancy.  Somehow he conveyed this to my parents, who came back with their idea that I was very intelligent and did well elsewhere.  His response: yes, but geniuses commit suicide.

    What’s interesting about this study is that the geniuses doing themselves in are in the arts, not the hard sciences.  Had I stuck with the arts, he may well have been right.  But I didn’t.

    One reason why I shifted into engineering–in addition to the desire for steady meals–was to get away from people such as him.  Doing that, as Robert Frost would say, has made all the difference.  The road is not only better but, on this side of eternity, longer too.

  • Paul Quinlan: Run Like a Deer

    FEL  S-092 (1967)

    The ink (printed or handwritten) had barely dried on the Second Vatican Council’s documents when Catholic composers and artists began to write songs for what we call the “old folk Mass” but what was revolutionary then.  Leading the pack (in quantity at least) was Paul Quinlan, S.J., who produced an enormous number of songs that resonated in many Catholic churches during the 1960’s and 1970’s.

    Most of the songs on this album are drawn from the Psalms, which was a favourite well for Quinlan to draw from.  It’s hard to expect even output from someone as prolific as Quinlan, but some of his songs are very memorable; I know that my group at Texas A&M made good use of “Song of Thanks.”

    As far as his style is concerned, it’s a very sparse, mid-60’s folk style.  That will go down well with some people but many who came after him performed his work in a richer style.  An interesting comparison can be made with his “Glory to God,” which appears (albeit in rehearsal mode) on this recording.

    As the 1970’s wore on and NALR’s productions slowly came to dominate the folk Mass scene, much of Quinlan’s work fell by the wayside.  Today of course we have the #straightouttairondale people who ban the folk Mass altogether, but this album is a nice reminder of what people can do when they start with a “clean slate.”

    The songs:

    1. Lord You See Me (Ps 139)
    2. Run Like A Dear (Ps 11)
    3. Glory To God (Ps 122)
    4. O Praise The Lord (Ps 150)
    5. Glory To The Father (Ps 92)
    6. God Arises (Ps 68)
    7. Clap Your Hands (Ps 47)
    8. The Lord Is My Shepherd (Ps 23)
    9. Not To Us O Lord (Ps 115)
    10. Come Let Us Sing (Ps 95)
    11. Song Of Thanks (Ps 118)
    12. Father Bless This Work (Jn 17)
    13. Halay! When To God I Send A Plea (Ps 4)

    More Music Pages

    ,

  • The EU Drives Swedes to Drink

    Literally, it has gone up significantly since joining the undemocratic, Procrustean experiment:

    “Sweden’s alcohol policy is more liberal than 25 years ago, and consumption is 20-25 per cent higher than before we joined the EU.”

    And this, mind you, with all the tee-totaling Muslim immigrants…

    I saw this in action because Finland also has serious alcohol restrictions.  In 1988, during my first visit to what was then Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) there were many drunk Finns wandering around the place.  “They come to drink,” my representative told me, because of the enormous price differential between Finland and the then-Soviet Union.

    I’ve attempted to show (with hostile reaction) that the Scots-Irish church’s hard push for total abstinence comes from that group’s penchant for binge drinking.  Obviously the Swedes, opposite of the Scots-Irish in many ways, take the same view, in a secular framework.  But with all the boozers across the Baltic, it’s a hard “red line” to draw.

    The increased alcohol consumption may also be an explanation for the Swedes’ liberal policies towards Middle Eastern immigrants…but I digress.

  • Filet-o-Fish, Fast Food's Gift to Lent

    Believe it or not, that’s how it got started:

    The 1960s were early days for McDonald’s and Groen was struggling to make ends meet. So he cast around for a new idea, and spotted that another restaurant was pulling his missing Catholic customers in selling fish.

    So he put some fried fish in a bun, added cheese and tartar sauce and put it on the menu…By 1965 the Filet-O-Fish had a permanent place on the McDonald’s menu.

    I can attest that it’s something that got me through several Lents while at Texas A&M University.  It didn’t hurt that the McDonalds was across the street from the Zachry Engineering Centre, where I spent much of my time studying for my Mechanical Engineering degree.

  • Reflection: Sounds of Salvation

    Reflection RL 310 (1974)

    If there’s one genre that’s mostly AWOL from the “Jesus Music” era, it’s prog.  To a great extent that’s still the case; a major exception is this dance troupe, which sets their Christian dance to some very good prog music.  We’ve featured prog on this site (especially this.)  But at the top of the heap, without a doubt, is this masterpiece, from the UK.  It not only sets the standard for what progressive Christian music should sound like; it’s one of the most memorable productions ever undertaken in the era.

    Commissioned by the Methodist Church, if their objective was to product a Christian album to appeal to a secular audience, they succeeded beyond their wildest dreams.  It goes from its noisy start to the hard-driving “Overseers” (which is probably what my students think of me) to a visit to Hell in “Many Regrets” to what is one of the nicest musical representations of the new birth in “What’s That I Hear.”  And that’s just the first side.

    It’s an album that has to be experienced.  There’s an entire blog (something of a stub) about it.  I’d love to point to a full re-release of this monumental work.

    The songs:

    1. Montage & Because My Mouth
    2. Jesus Is The Rock & Overseers & Psalm 94
    3. Who Am I
    4. Many Regrets
    5. For An Instant & In The Dark
    6. What’s That I Hear
    7. People I Live With
    8. Love III
    9. Kumbaya & Prayers
    10. What Is It Like, Lord
    11. Lonely
    12. For A Little Freedom
    13. Prayers
    14. Salvation Hymn
    15. Because My Mouth (reprise)

    More music

    ,
Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started