In addition to their aesthetic revisions, they've added a number of new and respectable blogs/bloggers: The Anchoress, Daniel Goldman (aka "Spengler"), Secondhand Smoke ("Your 24/7 Seminar in Bioethics and Being Human"); Postmodern Conservative and Icons and Curiosities ("A shopping blog with Sally Thomas and Jody Bottum").

I'm also pleased to announce that I have the privilege of contributing to the (relatively) new First Things' blog, "First Thoughts". Those accustomed to my long-winded soliloquies and roundups can expect a more "conversational" feel, -- as I will be engaging fellow Catholics Stephen Dillard, Jay Anderson and Paul Zummo and a host of others.

(Here's hoping I'll have something worthy to say).

P.S. I will still be making my occasional rounds at the usual haunts: The American Catholic; Catholic Friends of Israel; Catholics In the Public Square and The Benedict Blog. So stay tuned to those, as (insofar as is possible), the content will be exclusive to each.

Labels: other blogs

"Honestly, I'd rather be reading the American-Catholic"

• Should Catholics Own Guns?, by Ryan Harkins. How are we, as American Catholics, to understand our Second Amendment rights? As the Constitution of the United States is a document made by man, it is subject to errors, and has contained notable ones in the past. Could it possibly be that the “right to bear arms” itself is a mistake?

• "Preach the Gospel. If necessary, use words.", by Donald McClarey. Self-avowed atheist Penn Jillette of the Las Vegas show, Penn & Teller, is well known for his antipathy towards Christianity. But something happened to him just recently in an encounter with a practicing Christian after one of his shows.

• Does a Profit-Driven Business Model Corrupt?, by DarwinCatholic. One of the big criticisms of free market economics is that markets are driven by greed. “Why would you want to allow markets to set the price of [health care, wages, basic housing, food, education, etc.],” the argument goes, “when that means subjecting a basic humanitarian necessity of the dictates of unfettered greed?” This represents a basic misunderstanding of how markets work.

• Torture in the News, by Christopher Blosser. Practically buried in the news in the wake of the corruption scandal of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was the publication, on December 11, of a report by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and Ranking Member John McCain (R-Ariz.) — the culmination of an 18-month long investigation into the treatment of detainees in U.S. custody.

• Lead Us Into Temptation: American Materialism Eric Brown considers the questions: Why are we so materialistic? and Why are we so unwilling to acknowledge and explore what seems to be one of the central aspects of modernity?

• "It Is Better That One Man Should Stand In For The People" John Henry asks Vox Nova's Morning's Minion (regarding his penchant for lambasting evangelical Christians), "Do you think it is legitimate to cite one unflattering example as a stand-in for millions? If so, do you think Ms. Pelosi should be cited as a pretext for dismissing leftist Catholics? Archbishop Chaput for all Catholics?"

• Freedom as a Political Good, by DarwinCatholic. In the moral sense, the Church does not hold “freedom” in the sense of simply doing whatever you want to be a good. Rather, the Church holds doing the good to be the good, and freedom to be the means of achieving that. However, let us look now at the political question of freedom ...

• The Return of Gregorian Chant, by Tito Edwards. This past Summer a conference took place on the shores of Lake Michigan on reinvigorating the use of Gregorian Chant in our liturgies. The Reform of the Reform continues.

Labels: other blogs

Given my other blogging ventures here and at Catholics in the Public Square, The Benedict Blog, and Catholics Against Joe Biden (the latter at least until November 04, 2008), my efforts will be limited. But I hope that what meager contributions I can provide will be of benefit to my colleagues and our readers.

Labels: other blogs

• Why should Catholics oppose Senator Joe Biden?
• Does life begin at conception? - Joe Biden: "I'll take it on faith"
• Catholics United - Enough with the feigned "nonpartisanship"
• Deacon Keith Fournier: Obama Chooses Senator Biden and the battle for life is engaged, or as Jay Anderson puts it: "Joe Biden was FOR the ban on partial-birth abortion before he was AGAINST it."

Labels: other blogs

Labels: other blogs

01/27/08 - Debating Catholic Support for Barack Obama (Response to Gerald Campbell @ Vox Nova) 01/21/08 - Martin Luther King, Jesse Jackson and Black Genocide 01/10/08 - Deal Hudson and Deacon Fournier on Huckabee's "Catholic Problem"

One of my daily haunts is Vox Nova: Catholic Perspectives on Culture, Society and Politics -- a blogging collective of "diverse social outlooks, traversing a wide range of demographics and political sympathies," striving to be "free, to the furthest extent possible, from partisanship, nationalism and demagoguery, all of which banish intellectual honesty from rational discourse."

Whether or not they actually succeed in this endeavor is of course part of the appeal, along with thought-provoking (and sometimes infuriating) discussions in the combox.

I also check in occasionally with:

• InsideCatholic.com's "Inside Politics" has a daily offering from diverse Catholic perspectives. Their page "Catholic Advocate" keeps track of Catholic elected officials: "Are they voting in line with their faith, or exploiting their Catholicism for political advantage?" Let the legislation do the talking.
• RedState.com "Political News and Community"
• Worldwide Standard, blog of the Weekly Standard
• The Wall Street Journal's "Best of the Web Today", edited by James Taranto provides a good snapshot of daily political chatter. Usually updated every evening.

Labels: other blogs, politics

. . . a front-page blogger over at RedState, which is, arguably, the most influential conservative blog around (along with NRO's 'The Corner"). I have been an active member of the Republican Party and the Federalist Society for over fourteen years. I subscribe to only two magazines/journals: First Things and Crisis. I was a Calvinist Southern Baptist for several years before joining the Catholic Church in 2003 (and we all know that converts are nothing but trouble, right? :) ). If I had to choose a politician who best encapsulates my political views, it would either be Sam Brownback or Rick Santorum. My (modern-day) intellectual heroes/mentors, in addition to the Holy Father, are: Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice Clarence Thomas, Judge Robert Bork, Father Richard J. Neuhaus, Michael Novak, Professor Hadley Arkes, Professor Robert P. George, George Weigel, and pretty much every person Damon Linker went after in his book. In sum, I am a staunch theocon. And while there is much more that I could mention in this regard, I think the foregoing should give y'all a general idea of my worldview.

All of that having been said, I am not a knee-jerk Republican. I often find myself in disagreement with the GOP and/or conservative base on issues like: immigration, the death penalty, habeas corpus, torture, the need for military intervention in Darfur, flag burning (an act I find repulsive, but nevertheless understand to be a protected form of political dissent under the First Amendment), to name just a few. I am also the only conservative I know who doesn't watch or particularly care for the television program "24." I am more of a Stephen Colbert kinda guy, and that makes many of my GOP buddies deeply suspicious of me. :)

Anyway, a hearty welcome to Alexam. I commend Michael Joseph for inviting him. I look forward to what I hope will be an airing of diverse (yet Catholic) perspectives.

Labels: other blogs