Conservative Donnybrook

This story in the Daily Mail absolutely repulsed me.  It concerns a new breed of ecowarrior that refuses to have (or outright aborts) children because they’re simply not ecofriendly.

We meet Toni, an environmentalist who aborted her child ten years ago ”in the firm belief she was helping to save the planet.”  The absurdity of the statement in and of itself shocks the conscience, but when one contemplates it for some time (if one can stomach such an exercise) the truth reveals itself. Continue Reading »

I’ve always liked Rick Santorum.  Well, at least ever since awb pointed out this exchange between the former Pennsylvania Senator and Barbara Boxer regarding partial-birth abortion.

Here, he has a new op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer.  In it, he offers a way to overcome the Republican archetype of a soulless politician who shrugs off the poor with Ebenezer apathy.  He calls it common good conservatism:

What I call “common-good” conservatism not only relies as much as possible on private charities and faith organizations, market forces, individual choice and decentralized decision-making, but also sees a role for government in empowering the nongovernmental institutions of civil society that serve the common good.

For example, with the use of government vouchers, individuals are better able to choose a nonprofit service provider that is better for their families than a government program is. Similarly, taxpayers are at least as capable as Washington bureaucrats of choosing an effective charity that aids the poor in their communities. So why not eliminate most government grants and give a tax credit to individuals who give to poverty-fighting nonprofits? Unlike past conservative proposals, that measure would be aiming not to save money but to save lives.

Common-good conservatism creates the opportunity for services to be more effectively delivered to those in need, while helping to re-create a community, a place to reconnect. And for Republicans, it creates an opportunity to reconnect to the millions of Americans who think we don’t care.

The underlying principle here is the Catholic notion of subsidiarity, which tells us that “nothing should be done by a larger and more complex organization which can be done as well by a smaller and simpler organization.”  While most Catholic paleos would take this to mean that there is no role for centralized government whatsoever, Santorum takes care to understand that central government does indeed have a place.

Unfortunately, however, the chances of “common good conservatism” ever making headway past an op-ed column is as likely as Santorum ever seeing the Senate floor again.

I agree with awb’s comment.  In most suburbs, for whatever reason, the architecture of most parishes isn’t particularly eye-catching.  As for the music, well, sometimes you take what you can get.

This is why I’ve been trying to make it into the city regularly.  Mass at St. Thomas Church on 5th Avenue offers what is perhaps the most aesthetically pleasing and cathartic experiences available.

Next to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, it is one of America’s “architectural gems,” the brainchild of Bertrand Goodhue and Ralph Adams Cram.

The architecture alone, however, is not why the pews fill so quickly.  St. Thomas is renowned for its choir school, a boarding institution that houses boys from third through eigth grade.  Here, the wonderful young voices that fill the gotchic masterpiece fine tune their craft.

Michael Linton, writing for First Things, recently had a wonderful piece on the parish, referring to it as “the most beautiful in all of Christendom.”  To anyone visiting the New York area, St. Thomas offers a splendid opportunity to soak in one of the premiere masses in the country.

Make sure to listen to some of the free music that St. Thomas provides online, especially if you don’t foresee yourself wandering Manhattan anytime soon.

It turns out the government has been playing fast and loose with our Fourth Amendment protections. This story says that federal agents have been tracking people through their cellphones without first obtaining a warrant based upon probable cause.

“Law enforcement has absolutely no interest in tracking the locations of law-abiding citizens. None whatsoever,” [Justice Department spokesman Dean] Boyd said. “What we’re doing is going through the courts to lawfully obtain data that will help us locate criminal targets, sometimes in cases where lives are literally hanging in the balance, such as a child abduction or serial murderer on the loose.”

Remember my buddy “Nick” who “steadfastly refuses to own a vehicle that contains the OnStar system because he’s pretty sure the government uses it to track the whereabouts of citizens and, in particular, him. Yet, he carries a cell phone everywhere he goes?” He may want to reconsider his mode of communication, Dean Boyd’s reassurances notwithstanding.

“The singers wanted to overshout each other, they were frequently out of tune, the sound uneven, the conducting without any artistic power, the organ and organ playing like in a second-rank country parish church.” So says, The International Church Music Review about the Sistine Chapel Choir. And that choir is about a thousand times better than most parish choirs, far removed from the watchful eye of the pope. Pope Benedict has said no more! And, this blogger hopes the new direction at the Vatican spreads to parishes across the world (or at least in Central Indiana).

The liberalizing influences of the implementation of the Second Vatican Council have destroyed the sacred nature of worship spaces in the Catholic Church. Speaking of my own experience within my own parish, we have imported guitars, bongos, tambourines and drum sets. One night a month we have a veritable lounge act where the singer sings, at times, heretical songs at the tops of his lungs.

A couple of weeks ago, we had an excellent homily that talked about the Catholic Church’s teaching on the body, the true humanity of Jesus, and the resurrection of our bodies. The recessional song? We were treated to a borderline Docetist hymn which directly contradicted the homily! It was unbelievable! (I wish I could remember exactly which song it was and recite some of the lyrics – it was probably some Marty Haugen song out of the insipid GIA Publication hymnals that are in use in virtually every parish in America). I remember looking in alarm at my wife and noting that she’d detected the same heresy right on the heels of a homily dealing with the subject. I was stunned and was more than a little angry. I’m not alone.

It is good to see Pope Benedict (or as we call him around the house, Pope Benny the Awesome) taking the issue of liturgical music seriously. Let him who has ears to listen be spared listening to insipid, heretic Gnostic Bravo Sierra! Amen.

Update: Compare for yourself.
Continue Reading »

N.H. Presidential Primary Set for Jan. 8, Following Iowa Leadoff Caucuses

In the never-ending battle to jockey for position and set the tone for the coronation of the nominees of the two parties, New Hampshire has outflanked Michigan by moving its primary to January 8 and nipping Michigan by 7 days. This blogger has learned through unsubstantiated sources of dubious reliability that North Dakota is considering moving their primary to November 30. Not to be outdone, Indiana is considering moving theirs to last Tuesday.

At this rate, many states will be selecting nominees for the 2012 tilt some time in May.