One of the respondents to my Writers Need Rejection objected to (I’m assuming) the title and the writer I quoted who called rejection a “benefit.” He wrote: Rejection per se is not especially useful, but the experience Tom Gilson describes is—a rejection that . . . . Continue Reading »
Again, apologies for this getting put on hold a while . . . Martha Bayles wrote Hole in our Soul in 1994, but most of the key elements of the rap story were in place by that point. That is, as we saw in the previous post , critics admit that raps golden age was over by then, and . . . . Continue Reading »
Carlos Lozada, editor of the Washington Post ‘s Outlook section, provides a fantastic list of some of the hackneyed words and phrases his stylebook forbids. It’s striking to see how many of these bits of jargon are recycled in nearly every piece of reporting on offer. When was the . . . . Continue Reading »
Yesterday marked the 457th anniversary of Thomas Cranmers martyrdom, something Philip Jenkins noted here yesterday . Cranmer is justly remembered for his work in framing the traditional Symbols of Anglicanism, notably The Book of Common Prayer and The Forty-Two Articles (which later . . . . Continue Reading »
Jewish Leaders Welcome Francis described the response to his election from people like the head of the World Jewish Congress and the president of Israel. But there is more to be said, of course, and Jewish writers are beginning to say it. In Is a Jesuit Good For Jews? , the Weinberg Chair of Judaic . . . . Continue Reading »
The following appeared in the March 11 issue of Christian Courier as part of my monthly “Principalities & Powers” column: In November 1976 I was privileged to visit what was then called Czechoslovakia and its capital city, Prague. Although the communists were still in power and the . . . . Continue Reading »
1. I’m stuck with any nunber of real deadlines right now, and so I can’t devote my attention as much as I should to either POP CULTURE or BLOGGING. 2. I’m completely PRO-CHOICE on whether conservatives should be attuned to pop culture. I would say it’s a harmless vice, one . . . . Continue Reading »
Ive been rereading Josef Piepers lovely little exposition of Aquinas on hope , and it strikes me as being very much in line with the point I was trying to make in my last post that quoted Vaclav Havel . Pieper writes: The concept of the status viatoris is . . . . Continue Reading »
This is just my two cents on the pop culture scene. I am guilty of not watching television and being routinely clueless about the pop culture scene. Here, I lurk in wonder at who the hell has time to watch TV programs regularly. What I will do is catch up with some show friends rave . . . . Continue Reading »
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., on Pope Francis and Christians in the Middle East : The Chaldean and Syriac Catholic Churches of Iraq and Syria, while differing in rite and tradition from the Latin West, are integral members of the universal Catholic Church, in full communion with the . . . . Continue Reading »