Comments on: Ted Kennedy, 1932-2009 http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2009/08/26/ted-kennedy-1932-2009/ A First Things Blog Sat, 25 May 2013 03:12:04 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Graham Combs http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2009/08/26/ted-kennedy-1932-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-2374 Graham Combs Sun, 30 Aug 2009 00:07:38 +0000 http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/?p=7121#comment-2374 Apologetics has always seemed to me an odd word for defending the faith. As if we were apologizing for it. (I am a Catholic convert.) Apology is what I read in Sen. Kennedy’s words — words often heard over the years from politicians and professors. Monopoly is a word that doesn’t belong in the discussion. After all, the senator’s party claims loudly a monopoly on “tolerance.” As Flannery O’Connor famously put it, if it isn’t true then to hell with it. Which brings to mind my favorite Kennedy moment recorded on CSPAN. After Pres. Bush committed $24M to a D.C. voucher program, the senator shouted at the top of his lungs on the Senate floor: I’ll stop this if it’s the last thing I do!” That may be tolerance as narrowly defined in the urban hollers of K Street and the Upper West Side and Cambridge, but it is a world view without pity. And since empathy is indispensible these days, perhaps only someone like myself who grew up working poor and working class can appreciate that pitilessness on display those many years ago and now on the rise again in the Senate. RIP Senator. But may Our Gracious Lord help us in an America without pity.

]]> By: Kathleen Self http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2009/08/26/ted-kennedy-1932-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-2318 Kathleen Self Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:59:11 +0000 http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/?p=7121#comment-2318 Thanks to Bill Dougherty for clarifying the definition of “monopoly” for me, and I realize the Catholic Church does not claim exclusive ownership to truth. So I guess I just think that the Catholic Church has Truth, and many other Churches do as well. I do not remember how Fr. Neuhaus used to put it, but I came to believe that the Catholic Church is closer to the whole Truth than others. That doesn’t mean I do not love and tolerate all other religions, after all, people choose their religions based on thinking they are right, do they not?
I have heard lots of people speak on the hypocricy of being Roman Catholic and Pro-Choice, but I do not think labeling people as a hypocrite is good because it could be judging. Although, we must make certain judgments to vote on elected officials, just not how they will be Judged by God.
God rest Sen. Kennedy’s soul in peace.

]]> By: Senator Edward Kennedy (1932-2009) | Caffeinated Thoughts http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2009/08/26/ted-kennedy-1932-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-2304 Senator Edward Kennedy (1932-2009) | Caffeinated Thoughts Thu, 27 Aug 2009 01:33:51 +0000 http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/?p=7121#comment-2304 [...] Check out Joe Carter’s post on Senator Kennedy. Sphere: Related [...]

]]> By: Reaction To The Passing Away Of Ted Kennedy Around The Catholic World « The American Catholic http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2009/08/26/ted-kennedy-1932-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-2300 Reaction To The Passing Away Of Ted Kennedy Around The Catholic World « The American Catholic Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:38:32 +0000 http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/?p=7121#comment-2300 [...] Jerry Falwell and Ted Kennedy Were Close Friends by Joe Carter of First Thoughts [...]

]]> By: The Anchoress — A First Things Blog http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2009/08/26/ted-kennedy-1932-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-2297 The Anchoress — A First Things Blog Wed, 26 Aug 2009 22:10:23 +0000 http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/?p=7121#comment-2297 [...] UPDATES: Banned in Boston: No conservative perspectives in Beantown, today Michael Kelly: An old piece on Kennedy, I’d put off reading it for a few days, myself Roger L. Simon: Thinking of Kennedy via Europe Baseball Crank: Kennedy the Warhorse Catholic News Agency: A mixed Catholic Legacy Klavan: Bye, Ted Joe Carter: Kennedy’s thoughts on faith [...]

]]> By: Nicholas Frankovich http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2009/08/26/ted-kennedy-1932-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-2296 Nicholas Frankovich Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:26:42 +0000 http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/?p=7121#comment-2296 Apropos of Kennedy’s faith: Kathryn Jean Lopez at NRO says she often saw him at weekday Mass.

http://tinyurl.com/ngefkj

]]> By: Bill Daugherty http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2009/08/26/ted-kennedy-1932-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-2295 Bill Daugherty Wed, 26 Aug 2009 21:14:21 +0000 http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/?p=7121#comment-2295 “Monopoly” means exclusive ownership to which the Catholic Church makes no claim when it comes to Truth. I detested most of Sen. Kennedy’s ideas, policies and pronouncements but he was a persuasive speaker.

]]> By: Kathleen Self http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2009/08/26/ted-kennedy-1932-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-2277 Kathleen Self Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:32:03 +0000 http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/?p=7121#comment-2277 I hope it is not intolerant to say I have always admired Jerry Falwell but I also have always believed that the Catholic Catechism has what Kennedy called “a monopoly on truth” , but I did not think the Kennedys, being pro choice, understood that the Catechism teaches pro-life positions, or they did understand it but rationalized their position by a “nobody’s perfect” mentality. I still have to admire his warmth, his Irish heritage, his family,his upbringing, and his years of service in trying to fight for his ideals, even if some things may have taken us further from the justice he sought for everyone.

]]> By: Bill Daugherty http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/2009/08/26/ted-kennedy-1932-2009/comment-page-1/#comment-2276 Bill Daugherty Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:31:16 +0000 http://www.firstthings.com/blogs/firstthoughts/?p=7121#comment-2276 Requiescat in pace, leo senati.

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