Here and there . . .

A roundup of posts and articles that captured my attention this past week . . .

• "Mercy Even For Monsters". Jimmy Akin responds to Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby with a timely medidation on mercy and forgiveness -- yes, even for Yassir Arafat. And while I deplore the praise and adulation heaped upon a "reformed" terrorist (who ordered the killing of 1972 Israeli Olympic Team in Munich, as Bill Cork reminds us), when it comes to the question of his final reward, best heed Jimmy's advice and let hope, rather than hatred, govern our hearts.

• In "Keirkegaard for Grownups" First Things 146 (October 2004), Fr. Richard Neuhaus takes a look at one of my favorite philosophers, Soren Kierkegaard, how he has been mischaracterized and misrepresented during the 60's ("Kierkegaard experienced as an intellectually upmarket Holden Caulfield, or as an "existentialist" compatriot of atheists such as Sartre") and why he might be truly appreciated in a more mature fashion by Christians today. A worthy introduction.

• Peter Vere, blogger for Catholic Light and co-author of the recent Suprised by Canon Law: 50 Questions Catholics Ask about Canon Law, was interviewed by Zenit News Service:
  "The Code of Canon Law is not some dry juridical text that is far removed from the everyday concerns of Catholics. Rather, it is an exciting outgrowth of the Second Vatican Council's universal call to holiness and evangelization. Thus all canons, or individual laws, subordinate themselves to the last canon in the code. This canon reiterates the ancient canonical principle that "the salvation of souls is the supreme law."

• Jamie ("Ad Limina Apostolorum") "on Faith and Miracles":
  Dr. Blosser's note on 'faith and miracles' brings to mind one of the most vexing - and for me, frustrating - aspects of modern theological discussion. I refer to the indisputable fact that modern theologians have swallowed the Enlightenment bias against miracles hook, line and sinker. I recently re-read Cardinal Kasper's famed christological tome, 'Jesus the Christ,' which, regrettably, ends up recycling most of these objections . . . READ MORE

• Catholic writer Thomas Howard has joined Rev. James V. Schall and Rev. George Rutler with a regular column, "Ashes to Ashes." Another good reason to subscribe.

• "Go West, Young Woman!" - Dawn Eden was introduced to Christopher West's Theology of the Body (explicating the thought of Pope John Paul II), and blogs about parallels in the Jewish view of husband, wife and Shekinah, or Divine Presence. A touching post.

• The husband of a Democrat speaks out on the tumor growing in the Democratic Party
  My wife is a Democrat. Always was, always will be - at least in her heart. But she hasn't voted for a major Democratic candidate in more than 25 years. And therein lies a lesson for any Democrat who wants to understand the debris of the 2004 election. . . .

• What Went Wrong? A Democrat Muses about the Election (CatholicExchange.com, Nov. 13, 2004), by Nathan Nelson (Fides, Spes, Caritas).

  What I find reassuring in the aftermath of this election is that an increasing number of Democrats are finding their voices in speaking up for life, explaining why they were unable to vote as Democrats in the last election, and why they will continue to refrain from voting Democrat as long as their party allies itself with the abortion industry. It reinforces the fact that being pro-life is not just a "Republican" trait (cementing the Democrats in their opposition), but a principle held by a vast diversity of Americans. The more Democrats speak up about this, the better.

• Phil Dillon, a "transplanted Bostonian and Kennnedy Democrat," is a blogger who I encountered recently (via his discovery of Catholics in the Public Square), and have enjoyed reading ever since. In one of his latest posts he worries that American conservatives, flushed with victory, are spending too much time "preoccupied with power and flexing political muscle" and need to realize that "recreating civilization" -- establishing "the culture of life" in Catholic speak -- does not come by legislation alone but a comprehensive social engagement with culture and community. He'll be devoting his next several posts to "examining our culture as I view it here from the Kansas Flint Hills. They won’t be meant as technical documents, only as observations seen from my heart and my hopes. I’ll begin with the arts, looking at where we’ve been, where we are, and where we need to go." I'll be reading.

• "Kant vs. Bush" - Dr. Blosser responds to a reading of Immanuel Kant's essay "Perpetual Peace" as applied to President Bush with a clever and brilliant rejoinder of his own.