Friday, August 30, 2013
Liberty and power
Here we come to the fundamental paradox of modern liberalism. On the one hand, liberalism in all its stages has always treated human freedom as sacred. On the other hand, modern liberals also believe that in order to guarantee their freedom, they can in practice use the state’s coercive power to compel others to do what they believe is wrong.From The Public Discourse. The solution, as the article point out, is that rights are supposed to protect obligations, not autonomy.
This is the logical consequence of liberalism’s autonomy view of rights. Since the state is supposed to be “value-neutral” about what each party desires, in cases where human autonomy is at stake it really has no principled way to decide between competing claims. The result, more often than not, is not a fair contract between the two parties but an arbitrary exercise of political power, justified by the myth that we have a right to technological progress and convenience.
10 reasons to go to confession this weekend
Good advice from Mrs. Fischer. Sadly I went this morning, so unless I have a really good time this weekend, I'll probably wait a week or two before returning.
Labels: catholic
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Open disdain
In his July 31 decision, the judge also said the law posed an undue burden on women and that it ran afoul of the Supreme Court’s “Casey” decision.Perhaps if judges showed less open disdain for the actual federal Constitution, people would show less disdain for the rights they claim are clearly protected by it.
...
“The legislature has shown open disdain for the rights clearly protected by the federal Constitution,” Corwin wrote.
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Catholic torture
Gross.
State Sen. Greg Ball (R-Carmel), a potential 2014 congressional candidate, said on “Fox and Friends” Monday morning that torture is necessary in this and other cases of terrorism to save lives. “If getting that information, including torture, would save one innocent life, including what we’ve seen children, would you use torture?” Ball said. “I would be first in line.”First in line for hell, as Mark Shea points out.
Tuesday, August 06, 2013
A history of the Oregon Trail
The computer game, of course. Many hours of happy memories there.
The Eucharist in medieval art
I want to go to this, but keep screwing up. Maybe next weekend . . .
Throughout the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, the sacrament was certainly depicted. But the images, rare on walls, emerged primarily in illustrated manuscripts—prayer books, psalters, choir books, devotional and liturgical texts—commissioned for private use or by monasteries and cathedrals. On view now at the Morgan Library are sixty-five of these splendid manuscripts. All were prized possessions of prosperous owners. Each is a unique assertion of individual piety and a beguiling artifact of Gothic graphic inventiveness. - See more at: http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/maureen-mullarkey/2013/08/06/the-morgan-the-moon-and-the-eucharist/#sthash.h1aXxygT.dpuf
