Posted on October 31st, 2005 by Daniel Larison
Multiculturalism is “an abandonment and denial of that which is one’s own,” and, for Americans of European descent, Christianity is at the center of what is being abandoned and disavowed. Despite President Bush’s profession of faith, his administration is, like the America it represents, at best post-Christian, and perhaps anti-Christian. With Christianity on the retreat [...]
Filed under: miscellaneous
Posted on October 31st, 2005 by Daniel Larison
Today is October 18 on the Orthodox “Old” (Julian) Calendar, the feast day of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist St. Luke. As a disciple of the Word of God, with Paul you illuminated all the earth and dispelled the gloom in writing Christ’s divine Gospel. ~Kontakion for the feast day of St. Luke
Filed under: religion
Posted on October 31st, 2005 by Daniel Larison
U.S. President George W. Bush, seeking to rebound from a failed Supreme Court nomination, chose conservative appeals court judge Samuel Alito Jr. for the seat and set up what may be a bitter battle with Senate Democrats. Alito, 55, has a markedly different resume than that of White House Counsel Harriet Miers, whose nomination Bush [...]
Filed under: politics
Posted on October 25th, 2005 by Daniel Larison
Today on the “Old” (Julian) Orthodox Church Calendar, the Orthodox Church commemorates, among others, St. Martin, martyr and bishop of Tours, St. Cosmas the Hymnographer (contemporary of St. John of Damascus), and St. Symeon the New Theologian. Vechnaya Pomyat! Though in the flesh thou wast zealous to emulate the choirs of heaven, and whilst on [...]
Filed under: religion
Posted on October 24th, 2005 by Daniel Larison
Cardinal Newman’s remarks about St. Cyril’s exegetical method, quoted in the previous post, made me reflect a little on the radically different (and sometimes terrible) conclusions different approaches to Scripture produce. How a person perceives the written Word determines to a remarkable degree his vision of the Church and his understanding of the role of [...]
Filed under: Uncategorized
Posted on October 24th, 2005 by Daniel Larison
Here Cyril was certainly bolder than the Latin theologians, but the lack of theological daring in Latin Christology has somewhat slanted McGuckin’s interpretation of Pope Leo I, whose famous Tome was read out before the assembled bishops at Chalcedon to unanimous acclaim: “Peter has spoken through Leo!” The standard Western account of that episode claims [...]
Filed under: religion
Posted on October 20th, 2005 by Daniel Larison
Asked what he thought the odds were of a team that once was 15 games under .500 winding up in the World Series, Lance Berkman gave it some thought. “Well, how many times has it happened — ever?” Berkman replied. “Once in history, right? (Right.) And that was in 1914, right? (Right — by the [...]
Filed under: miscellaneous
Posted on October 19th, 2005 by Daniel Larison
To identify results in these terms, I inspected the political history of each country after the troop withdrawal. I looked for events betokening the collapse of democratic rule, including the suppression of opposition leaders or parties, major infringements of freedoms of speech, press, and assembly, violent transfers of power, murder of political leaders by other [...]
Filed under: politics
Posted on October 12th, 2005 by Daniel Larison
Today, to criticise multiculturalism, one is invariably derided as ‘right wing’ or ‘reactionary’. Conversely, to champion multiculturalism, one is invariably perceived as ‘progressive’ or ‘of the left’. But it should be, and historically it has been, the other way around. Multiculturalism represents the antithesis of the Enlightenment principle of colour-blindness and the notion of the [...]
Filed under: politics
Posted on October 12th, 2005 by Daniel Larison
There has been little cheer in Germany’s business community now that Angela Merkel is headed to take the chancellery from Gerhard Schroeder. The country’s leading tabloid, the Bild, flashed the conservative leader’s smile across the front page after the deal with Schroeder’s Social Democrats Party (SPD) was announced. But one of the top business dailies, [...]
Filed under: politics
