Last night I saw The Lion in Winter , the movie about Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine, and their three sons gathered together for the Christmas holidays. The threats, the manipulation, the backbiting—imagine if George and Martha had had three children, and crowns. One line of dialogue struck me . . . . Continue Reading »
At the New Liturgical Movement, Jeffrey Tucker argues that Summorum Pontificum is indicative of the new spirit of reform creeping into the Church, one in marked contrast to what came before: Everyone knows the more obvious specifics. Vatican II said Gregorian chant should assume primary place but . . . . Continue Reading »
The other day while reading Orwell’s essay “Politics and the English Language,” I came across the following passage: As I have tried to show, modern writing at its worst does not consist in picking out words for the sake of their meaning and inventing images in order to make the . . . . Continue Reading »
If you’re at all sick of non-stop political reporting on the election, here’s the perfect antidote: Dave Barry is reporting daily from the Democratic National Convention in Denver. His pieces for August 24 , 25 , and 26 are currently on the Miami Herald’s website, with more to . . . . Continue Reading »
Recently Robert George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton and a frequent contributor to First Things , was on CNN’s Glenn Beck Show with some of his students to discuss life on college campuses, specifically the acceptability of conservatism and the hook-up culture. One of the . . . . Continue Reading »
Dennis Byrne, a columnist in the Chicago Tribune , reminds us yet again that the question about abortion has changed for this election. It’s not just a question of whether abortion is permitted in the womb, but whether infanticide is legal when the mother doesn’t want to keep a newborn . . . . Continue Reading »
Yesterday I wrote on the excommunication scene in the movie Beckett . Last night while looking up the exact definition of anathema , I found the actual text of the old rite of anathematization, the gravest form of excommunication: “Wherefore in the name of God the All-powerful, Father, Son, . . . . Continue Reading »
An aside on religion in contemporary society from David Lebedoff’s The Same Man: George Orwell and Evelyn Waugh in Love and War : “The mainstream churches are losing members and often seem devoted to causes more worthy than holy.” That sums it up well. . . . . Continue Reading »
Last night I watched Becket , the 1964 film with Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole about the relationship between Thomas Becket and Henry II—the famous friendship that ended in assassination. The performances were superb, and the script was surprisingly rich. But the portrayal of Becket . . . . Continue Reading »
As baseball and softball end their brief terms as Olympic sports, The Economist provides a collection of other events that have been discontinued. Those who felt a stirring in their hearts for tug-of-war, live pigeon shooting, or swimming obstacle courses, start your petitions to the IOC now. . . . . Continue Reading »
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