On Reading "On Fairy-Stories"

My long-awaited copy of J. R. R. Tolkien's collection of essays, The Monsters and the Critics, arrived today (I didn't realize my copy had come all the way from Merrie Olde England), but it was worth the wait. I ordered the book because it contains one essay I particularly wanted to read, "On Fairy-Stories," that provides a particularly illuminating glimpse into Tolkien's thought and a rousing defense of speculative and fantastic fiction, especially from a Christian perspective.

Originally delivered as a lecture at St. Andrews University in Scotland in 1939, "On Fairy-Stories" is a long and somewhat rambling essay that covers a lot of intellectual territory. Tolkien displays a near-encyclopedic grasp of ancient and medieval European literature to support his points. What I used to say about one of my own graduate school professors applies even more so to Tolkien: "He probably forgot more about medieval literature than I'll ever know."

Tolkien begins by trying to define fairy stories, freely admitting that he knows more about what fairy stories are not than about what they are. They are not mere juvenile stories about tiny beings with wings [e. g., Tinkerbell]; they are not merely stories about travels to exotic lands and faraway places on earth; and they are not simple falsehoods. What they are, Tolkien spends the rest of the essay elaborating. After briefly discussing the possible origins of fairy stories, Tolkien begins to warm to his topic when he describes how the mind works to create fairy stories in the first place:

 The human mind endowed with the powers of generalization and abstraction, sees not only green-grass, discriminating it from other things (and finding it fair to look upon), but sees that it is green as well as being grass. But how powerful, how stimulating to the very faculty that produced it, was the invention of the adjective: no spell or incantation in Faërie is more potent. . . .

 The mind that thought of light, heavy, grey, yellow, still, swift also conceived of magic that would make heavy things light and able to fly, turn grey lead into yellow gold, and the still rock into swift water. If it could do one, it could do the other; it inevitably did both. When we can take green from grass, blue from heaven, and red from blood, we have already an enchanter's power—upon one plane; and the desire to wield that power in the world external to our mind awakes. . . . But in such 'fantasy,' as it is called, new form is made; Faërie begins; Man becomes a sub-creator.

  Tolkien takes particular exception to the belief that fairy stories are fit only for children, as if children are somehow more simple-minded than adults, more eager to believe the fantastic, and more willing to suspend disbelief than adults are:

Is there any essential connection between children and fairy-stories? Is there any call for comment, if an adult reads them for himself? Reads them as tales, that is, not studies them as curios. Adults are allowed to collect and study anything, even old theater-programs or paper bags. . . . Fairy-stories in the modern lettered world have been relegated to the 'nursery,' as shabby or old-fashioned furniture is relegated to the playroom, primarily because the adults do not want it and do not mind if it is misused.

(As an aside, I would say that thanks in large part to the phenomenal popularity of Tolkien's own works, including The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion, their many imitations and derivatives published since, and contemporary works of fantasy such as the Harry Potter books, "fairy stories" are more widely accepted among adults than ever before. Tolkien's next major point about the "willing suspension of disbelief" still holds):

Children are capable, of course, of literary belief, when the story-maker's art is good enough to produce it. That state of mind has been called 'willing suspension of disbelief.' But this does not seem to me a good description of what happens. What really happens is that the story-maker proves a successful 'sub-creator.' He makes a Secondary World which your mind can enter. Inside it, what he relates is 'true' : it accords with the laws of that world. You therefore believe it, while you are, as it were, inside. The moment disbelief arises, the spell is broken; the magic, or rather art, has failed.

Having considered what fairy stories are (or are not) and how they are constructed, Tolkien next considers the purpose and value of fairy stories. "Fairy stories were plainly not concerned with possibility, but with desirability. If they awakened desire, satisfying it while often whetting it unbearably, they succeeded," he writes. Based on memories of his own boyhood, Tolkien argues the most fundamental desire a successful fairy story can arouse is the desire to see those places, creatures, and things that are totally strange, totally Other, totally alien to one's everyday experience, even if that Other is somehow dangerous:

The dragon had the trade-mark Of Faërie written plain upon him. In whatever world he had his being, it was an Other-world. Fantasy, the making or glimpsing of Other-worlds, was the heart of the desire of Faërie. I desired dragons with a profound desire. Of course I in my timid body did not wish to have them in my neighborhood . . . But the world that contained even the imagination of Fáfnir [a dragon from Germanic mythology] was richer and more beautiful at whatever cost of peril.

The dark and perilous aspects of some fairy stories, far from being harmful to children, can actually be beneficial to them, Tolkien argues:

Children are meant to grow up and not to become Peter Pans. Not to lose innocence and wonder; but to proceed on the appointed journey: that journey upon which it is certainly not better to travel hopefully than to arrive, though we must travel hopefully if we are to arrive. But it is one of the lessons of fairy stories . . . that on callow, lumpish, and selfish youth peril, sorrow, and the shadow of death can bestow dignity, and even sometimes wisdom.

One of the greatest purposes of a fairy-story, Tolkien seems to imply here, is to impart a great truth about life in our "Primary World," even as it moves and delights us by relating the adventures of characters in a totally imaginary "Secondary World." Far from being a waste of the human being's creative or imaginative abilities, the making of a genuine fairy story is the highest achievement of narrative art:

Anyone inheriting the fantastic device of human language can say the green sun. . . . [but to] make a Secondary World inside which the green sun will be credible, commanding Secondary Belief, will probably require labor and thought, and will certainly demand a special skill, a kind of elvish craft. Few will attempt such difficult tasks. But when they are attempted and in any degree accomplished then we have a rare achievement of Art: indeed, narrative art, story-making in its primary and most potent mode.

 Indeed, Tolkien insists, the human ability to create Secondary Worlds in fiction and to create tales of the beings who populate those worlds is not just an idle amusement, but a fundamental defining characteristic of human beings, a right given to them by God, who is Himself a creator of worlds and beings:

Fantasy remains a human right: we make in our measure and in our derivative mode, because we are made: and not only made, but made in the image and likeness of a Maker.

The ability to create secondary fictional worlds in which strange and fantastical things happen should give us the ability to look at our Primary World with fresh and appreciative eyes:

We should look at green again and be startled anew (but not blinded) by blue and yellow and red. We should meet the centaur and the dragon, and then suddenly behold, like the ancient shepherds, sheep, and dogs, and horses—and wolves. This recovery, fairy-stories help us to make. In that sense only a taste for them may make us, or keep us, childish.

Tolkien concludes his essay by discussing what he believes to be the most important characteristic of fairy-stories: what is sometimes called the happy ending, but more than that, the dramatic unexpected turn of events that heals and restores the characters and brings about real profound joy that was also totally unexpected. Tolkien calls this moment the complete opposite of tragedy or catastrophe and coins the term eucatastrophe to describe it:

In its fairy-tale—or otherworld—setting, it is a sudden and miraculous grace: never to be counted on to recur. It does not deny the existence of dyscatatrophe , of sorrow and failure: the possibility of these is necessary to the joy of deliverance; it denies (in the face of much evidence, if you will), universal final defeat and in so far is evangelium, giving a fleeting glimpse of Joy, Joy beyond the walls of the world, poignant as grief.

 Evangelium, of course, is the Latin word for the gospel, the "good news" of the Birth, Death, and Resurrection of Christ. By the Birth, Death, and Resurrection of Christ, "God redeemed the corrupt making-creatures, men, in a way fitting to this [story-making] aspect, as to others, of their strange nature." Tolkien suggests here that just as human nature may be redeemed by the death and resurrection of Christ, human fairy-stories and the human ability to make them, may be redeemed as well. The gospel, Tolkien suggests, is the ultimate fairy-story—not in the sense that it is false or imaginary—but in the sense that it contains marvels worthy of the best fairy stories and the greatest eucatastrophe imaginable. The Death and Resurrection of Christ, which looked at first like the greatest defeat in all of history achieved the salvation of the world. The most mind-boggling reality about the gospel, however, is that it is true:

But this story has entered History  and the primary world; the desire and aspiration of sub-creation has been raised to the fulfillment of Creation. The Birth of Christ is the eucatastrophe of Man's history. The Resurrection is the eucatastrophe of the story of the Incarnation.

Does this mean, then, that once the greatest fairy-story has been told, there are no other fairy stories to tell? No, says Tolkien. On the contrary, if human nature has been redeemed by the Death and Resurrection of Christ, human fairy-stories and the human ability to make them may be redeemed as well. A well-made fairy story, with its evangelium and eucatastrophe, a message of incredible good news about a totally unexpected turn of events that brings incredible, unexpected joy, may awaken readers' imagination to the greatest and truest evangelium and eucatastrophe of all: the Death and Resurrection of Christ:

. . . in God's kingdom, the presence of the greatest does not depress the small. Redeemed Man is still man. Story, fantasy, still go on and should go on. The Evangelium has not abrogated legends; it has hallowed them, especially the 'happy ending.' The Christian has still to work, with mind as well as body, to suffer, hope, and die; but he may now perceive that all his bents and faculties have a purpose, which can be redeemed. So great is the bounty with which he has been treated that he may now, perhaps, fairly dare to guess that in Fantasy he may now assist in the effoliation and multiple enrichment of creation. All tales may yet come true; and yet, at the last, redeemed, they may be as like and as unlike the forms that we give them as Man, fully redeemed, will be like and unlike the fallen that we know.

Readin' and 'Ritin' (But No 'Rithmetic)

Hello There! Yes, I know there's been some serious blog fade around here lately, but I am still alive and kicking, Thanks Be To God! I believe I'm finally over the consarned, goshdarned, !@#$%^&* medical problems that (sometimes literally) cramped my style for much of the summer. Now that I'm feeling more or less normal (whatever that is), I'm beginning to think again about serious questions, such as what I can do to support myself. I'm receiving disability payments and have some savings, but I'd like to be generating income as well as spending it.

Before I got sick, I was thinking about doing some fiction writing, resuming work on a project I had laid aside awhile back. I am slowly getting back into that. I'm a great one for thinking about writing, but not so hot on actually doing it. I have a pretty fierce inner critic who tells me that writing fiction is a waste of time and a way of avoiding reality (I think he's related to my Scottish Calvinist ancestors). However, when I can get him to shut up, I read and listen to other people's fiction. I've listened to two podcast versions of Treasure Island in honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day, and am currently reading Michael Flynn's excellent medieval Catholic science fiction novel Eifelheim and Phil and Kaja Foglio's "gaslamp fantasy comic" Girl Genius.

As if that weren't enough, I'm also listening to a  series of podcasts on the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. In his introductory episode, the host of these podcasts, a professor of medieval literature, cites an essay of Tolkien's, "On Fairy Stories," that I just can't wait to read for myself. In it Tolkien argues that the urge to create imaginary worlds in fiction is a natural human desire since humans are made in the image and likeness of a God who is Himself a creator of worlds. Furthermore, the desire to create magical or fantastic worlds in which extraordinary things happen is not an escape from reality or a denial of reality but a reminder to humans that our world contains spiritual realities that go beyond what we can see or prove in ordinary day to day sense experience.

A Christian justification for writing speculative or fantastic fiction could be hugely liberating and could open up a whole new world of creativity for me. I have to ask myself, "Why shouldn't I try to create my own fictional worlds, worlds that could be every bit as exciting as the worlds I am currently visiting as a reader? Why shouldn't I find out if readers will enjoy visiting these worlds as much as I enjoyed creating them?

I am not suggesting that I will drop everything and try to become the next J. R. R. Tolkien, or the next J. K. Rowling, or even the next Stan Lee. I know that trying to make a living writing fiction is a long shot even under the best of circumstances. Most manuscripts are never published, most published books are never reviewed, and most reviewed books never sell millions of copies. Every author I've ever read who has written about the craft of writing, however, explains that real authors never write solely for the money. They write because there are stories that authors would like to tell, want to tell, and need to tell.

What I am suggesting is that I am going to see what stories I can tell, and see who else might like to read them. I'll probably never make a dime, but I might possibly make a few bucks and might even make millions, although I consider this last possibility highly unlikely. I just hope the journey will be fun. When I think about the situation in this light, the question becomes not so much, "What am I going to do to support myself?" as, "What can I do to keep the lights on and groceries in the fridge while I write?" The second is a far more interesting question than the first.

Huh?

Have I wandered into some strange alternate universe? Bizarre, unexplained things are happening.

First, the Carolina Panthers have finally won their first game of the season after a string of three rather embarrassing losses. A victory. How refreshing!

 Carolina Panthers defenders wrap up a Washington Redskins running back as part of Sunday's 20-17 win.

Second, as the Fox Sports guys were signing off after the game,they advised the viewing audience to stay tuned and see the poker playing priest on the Pokerstars.net Million Dollar Challenge. The words "poker," "playing," and "priest" are not normally used in the same sentence, so that raised my eyebrows and provoked my curiosity. In the next few minutes, however, I got an extra large helping of raised eyebrows with a side order of "WHAAAAAT?" when I learned that the priest in question is the pastor of a parish I used to belong to in my home diocese! It's one thing when a priest is doing weird things somewhere else, but when it's a priest in your own backyard, it's especially surreal. What's more, Father Andrew Trapp, with the help of a professional poker player, defeated two other professional poker players and then defeated the same player who had coached him in a round of Texas Hold 'em, thereby winning $100,000. One hundred grand! He'll probably have to render at least a third of that unto Caesar, but that's still a nice chunk of change. He said he learned to play poker while in seminary. Where did this guy go to school? Our Lady of La Roulette?

 Father Andrew Trapp, the "poker playing priest."

To be fair, the good padre said he will donate all his winnings to the church building fund and will auction off his other prize, a trip to somewhere in the Caribbean (The Bahamas, I think), in hopes of raising more funds.

Third, the gang at Blogger, WITHOUT TELLING ME, re-jiggered the template for new posts, leading me to believe for several days that I couldn't post pictures to my blog. Fortunately, I found out about the changes and a correction to the problem via the Blogger Help forums (Thanks, guys).

Wait, I can't be in an alternate universe. No previously good, clean shaven person of my acquaintance has suddenly sprouted a beard and become evil. (Whew, that's a relief).

Love and Marriage, Pirate Style

Ahoy there, Mateys! That fair wench The Ironic Catholic hath reminded me that today be Talk Like a Pirate Day once again, it be. Shiver me timbers, I almost missed it! Here be the link to the last time I blogged about TLAPD. But what's more, it seems The Ironic Catholic (Dr. IC for short, don't ye know), has as a story to tell about Lizzie the Pirate Wench, Jack her intended, and their parish priest, no less! Lend an ear, ye scurvy dogs, and ye'll learn somethin' about that there Theology of the Body, so ye will, and have a laugh besides.

In the meantime, here be a video of a song that some scurvy dog hath composed in honor of the occasion:



Arrr!

The Happy Haka

Reader PaperSmyth and I have been chatting via the comment boxes lately about rituals, symbolism, and team loyalty. When I mentioned that wearing an Auburn University cap brings back all sorts of memories of my Dad, and wearing a University of South Carolina cap brings back both memories of my Mom and memories of my own time at USC, Papersmyth responded that she has used the earthshaking, earsplitting experience of The Tunnel Walk at University of Nebraska home games as a metaphor for what The Last Trumpet in the book of Revelation might be like:



This is obviously a pregame ritual designed to psych up the home team and home fans and intimidate the visitors, right?

Then, as it happened, I listened to the most recent episode of Father Roderick's Daily Breakfast Podcast. Father Roderick has been visiting Australia and New Zealand speaking to members of the Australasian Catholic Press Association. His host in New Zealand mentioned a local rugby team, The All-Blacks (so named because of their uniforms), that performs a haka, or a kind of war dance used by New Zealand's Maori people, before every game. The haka uses chanting, shouting, aggressive body movements, and fierce facial expressions to convey the message to opponents: "We are bad dudes, and we will mess you up."

In other words, it's a pregame ritual designed to psych up the home team and home fans and intimidate the visitors:



And it's quite effective! So, PaperSmyth, I'll see your Tunnel Walk and raise you one haka. Maybe if the Gamecocks did that before every game . . .

I Won Again!

Yes, Dear Readers, it has happened again.

More than a year after my first victory in the HeroMachine Caption Contest, I have won again!

Jeff Hebert, creator of the fantabulous HeroMachine software, website, and blog has recently revived his much beloved caption contest. Every couple of weeks, Jeff searches through his vast library of comics, finds a single panel rich with comedic possibilities, removes the dialogue, and invites readers to submit their own. The reader with the funniest dialogue (in this case, that would be me) wins a prize drawn by Jeff. Since he is currently hard at work on the next major upgrade of the software, the prize will be an item of my choice to be included in the next version of HeroMachine or (shudder) a caricature of my face, an item too horrible to be contemplated.

Here is this week's panel with the original dialogue removed:



Here's the same panel with my dialogue inserted, which I hope, Dear Readers, you will find appropriately hilarious:



I have an idea of what I would like for my prize, but I haven't made a final decision. I'll keep you posted.

Caps

It's funny how the physical objects around us can get us to thinking.

Now that another college football season is upon us, I splurged on a University of South Carolina baseball cap to show my team loyalty. This is the one I chose:



I've cheered for Carolina teams since I was a boy, long before I did my graduate work there (and far too often been poorly rewarded for my loyalty, but that's another story). Hope springs eternal in the Gamecock fan's breast however. This might just be the year the football team or the basketball team or the baseball team or the women's track and field team or somebody does great things.

When the cap arrived yesterday I wore it with great pride, but it reminded me that I had a similar one for Auburn University, my Dad's alma mater, a cap very much like this one:



Towards the end of his life, I noticed that Dad had taken to wearing a baseball cap whenever he drove to keep the sun out of his eyes. He was wearing a generic baseball cap he'd gotten from somewhere (the USC bookstore if I remember correctly). Two Christmases before he died of cancer, I gave him an Auburn cap. He smiled and thanked me. Later I learned that he wore it whenever he drove until he was no longer able to drive. After Dad's funeral, my brother Allen asked me if I would like to have the cap and I have kept it ever since.

Dad was never a big sports fan. Normally he paid very little attention to Auburn athletics—until perhaps the annual weekend that Auburn played Alabama. When I rediscovered the cap, however, I couldn't stop thinking about him. I found Auburn's fight song on the internet and have been listening to it almost compulsively. I'll keep an eye on how the Auburn Tigers (Clemson Tigers = BAD! Auburn Tigers = GOOD!) do this year, even as I'm cheering on my Gamecocks. And should Auburn triumph over Alabama, you will hear a rousing cry of WAAAAAAR EAGLE!" from this direction.

Miss you, Dad.

What The . . .?

Regular readers of this blog (all three of you) know that two of my interests are the Catholic faith and comics. These two things came together in a rather bizarre way when I looked in on Jeff Hebert's Heromachine Blog on Friday and found the following item:



As I commented on Jeff's blog:

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot? Bats in the altogether except for his cape and cowl? With his batboys discreetly covered by the undulations of Joker, aka the Serpent in the Garden of Eden? This is not just whacked out comics, folks. This is some SERIOUSLY whacked out theology.

(Darned Episcopalians!) :)

The meaning of this one confounds both Christians and comic book fans. Never let it be said that It's All Straw does not broaden your educational, cultural, and theological horizons, dear readers.

'Sup?

Hey, everybody. I know it's been awhile since I posted anything of significance. Still having some medical problems that interfere with my ability to do much of anything useful, but I'm still here. So . . . 'Sup with you?

Just for Laughs

OK, enough with the cute pictures of dogs and cats with hilarious captions and the grousing about my medical problems. It's time for this blog to regain the moral and intellectual high ground with . . . superhero parody videos! Yeah, that's it! That's the ticket! I blundered across this yesterday on YouTube and thought it was hilarious.



To be perfectly honest, I always did think Wonder Woman was a little bit on the lame side. Glad somebody else thinks so too.

Two Blogs Go Black

Two giants of the Catholic blogosphere, Amy Welborn and Dawn Eden, have decided to bring their blogs to an end. I'll let them explain why. I'm sure they had good reasons, but I will miss both of them.

Third-rate hacks like me are still available, however. :)

Dawn announced she was going on a permanent blogging vacation almost a month ago, but I kept checking back every so often in the forlorn hope that perhaps she had reconsidered her decision. No such luck.

As for Amy, I hadn't checked on her blog in a while, and was surprised to find during a quick visit to her site that she had decided to call it quits.

We'll miss you, ladies. Be well, and God bless you both. Thank you for all you have done to make the internet a saner, more humane, more Christlike place.

Pax vobiscum.

Cheezeburger of Teh Day

see more dog and puppy pictures

Cheezeburger of Teh Day

see more dog and puppy pictures

Sign Her Up for the Schola Cantorum!

Tangle (formerly called GodTube, I think) sent me this video, and I thought it was too cute not to share. Yes, she is singing the version of The Lord's Prayer found in the King James Bible, which means she's probably not Catholic, but hey, she's only two! Things could change.



Makes you think, doesn't it? Have you said your prayers today? Even more importantly, have you made sure your kids have said their prayers today?

Cheeseburgers in Paradise

A member of my Legion of Mary group very graciously presented me with a George Foreman Grill recently (on my birthday no less) and last night and today I finally had a chance to try it out. I don't know about you, but when I hear the word "grill," I start thinking, "hamburgers," and the instruction book just happened to include a recipe for "George Foreman Power Burgers" (with your choice of vegetables and seasoned bread crumbs added to the meat) that I just had to try. I bought just over a pound of ground chuck and a white onion and made the bread crumbs myself. I followed the cooking directions and last night produced two rather tasty burgers with all the fixin's (cheese, lettuce, ketchup, mustard, pickles), a very satisfying, if somewhat messy meal. I just had another plain burger for lunch, and cooked and froze the remaining meat in a rather oversized patty that I'll reheat later, either in the microwave or the toaster oven.

My only complaint about the whole process is that the plastic spatula provided and recommended for use with the grill is pretty darn useless. Using it is like trying to flip your burger with a credit card. Otherwise, I'm looking forward to grilling all sorts of goodies. Now, I have the option of being able to prepare a slow-cooked meal in my new crock pot, or to cook something fairly quickly on the grill. Recipes and tips will be gratefully accepted.

Mass Appeal

I went to Mass today for the first time in several weeks after a long illness. I'm still not fully recovered, but I consider the fact that I felt well enough to go to church an encouraging sign. More news as it becomes available and events warrant. That is all.

Still Struggling

Man, this is getting tedious. Sorry about the blog fade for the past couple of weeks, but I'm still having medical problems that are embarrassing, messy, and painful in a certain (ahem) sensitive region of the male anatomy. This all started with a pair of infections, back to back, and even after two rounds of antibiotics, I still don't feel particularly good. In fact it feels as though the infection is trying to make a comeback. I'm planning to see my doctor on Monday, and we'll discuss where to go from here.

On the bright side, I did get to visit my family in North Carolina for birthday number (mumble, mumble) and I treated myself to the DVD of The Incredibles with a the Wal-Mart Gift Card my sister gave me. The Incredibles is rapidly becoming one of my favorite movies. Writer and director Brad Bird combines a smart script and stellar computer-generated animation to serve up a spankin' comedy action/adventure/superhero movie, even as he gently pokes fun at the action/adventure/superhero movie—and, as if that weren't enough, his turn as the voice of Edna Mode, costume designer to the supers, is almost worth the price of admission by itself:



I think the secret to the Pixar gang's success is that for all their mind-blowing technical skill with computer animation, they never forget that the real essentials of any story are character and plot.They rarely fail to give us interesting characters and to make the journey on which those characters embark interesting as well. Unfortunately I missed the latest Pixar vehicle, Up, during its theatrical run, but in light of all the enthusiastic reviews I read, it's definitely slated for rental the minute it comes out on DVD.

A Response From the President

You may recall that back in April I posted an open letter to the President voicing my opposition to the so-called Feedom of Choice Act (FOCA). Yesterday I received this response:

The White House
Washington

July 2, 2009

Dear Friend:

Thank you for taking the time to share your views on abortion. This is a heart-wrenching issue, and I appreciate your input and thoughts.

I am committed to making my Administration the most open and transparent in history, and part of delivering on that promise is hearing from people like you. I take seriously your opinions and respect your point of view on this issue. Please know that your concerns will be on my mind in the days ahead.

Thank you again for writing. I encourage you to visit Whitehouse.gov to learn more about my Administration or to contact me in the future.

Sincerely,
Barack Obama

I offer this with very little comment, except to say that it's obviously a form letter, which I expected, if I expected any response at all. There's no indication that anyone associated with the President attempted to respond to any of the objections or concerns I raised. The letter moves quickly from a generic, bland thank-you for "sharing my views on abortion" to a discussion of what seems to be the President's favorite topic—himself and the wonders of his Administration (note the capital A). The envelope was addressed by hand, probably by a lowly White House mail room employee.

"Change we can believe in?" I think not. To me it just looks like more of the same old thing--blarney and double-talk from another politician.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

I'm still struggling with medical issues. My sister came for a visit this weekend and brought some much needed TLC, some yummy home cooked meals, and her very sweet dog for company, but the weekend was still pretty rough. I found out I do have an infection and have started on another round of antibiotics. I'm also going to see my doctor later this afternoon. Your prayers, dear readers, would still be very much appreciated.

Medical Update

Thanks to all of those who have been and are praying for me. Please keep it up. Your prayers and good wishes are very much appreciated. The outpatient procedure went very well. There is no evidence of any Really Terrible Disease or Really Big Medical Problem, which is what I was really scared of, so that is a huge relief. I think I may have finally turned the corner on this thing and may soon be back to my old self.

I have to give an extraordinarily big shout-out and thank you to the incomparable Dawn Eden for her support during this time. I e-mailed her to ask for her prayers, and she went one better, not only praying for me, but also calling me and offering personal words of counsel and encouragement the night before the procedure. She sent me a link to a pamphlet by the great Fulton J. Sheen, an extraordinarily rich meditation on the relationship between Christ's sacrifice on Calvary and the events of every Mass. This booklet is well worth your time and will doubtless require several readings to fully appreciate. Thanks for everything, Dawn! You're a real mensch!

Prayer Request Redux

Dear readers,

The medical problem I spoke of a few days ago has been more stubborn and persistent than I expected. The standard treatments don't seem to be working, and my doctors are at a loss as to what to do next. I am worried about how I will continue to pay for further treatments or medical procedures if they are necessary, because at the moment I am unemployed and without health insurance. I am also worried that this problem could be a symptom of something more seriously wrong. Thanks to all of you who have prayed for me. Please keep it up. Additional prayers from friends old and new would be welcome and very much appreciated.

Thank you.

UPDATE 7/6/09: Thanks to all of you who have prayed and are praying for me. At the recommendation of my doctor, I am planning to undergo an outpatient medical procedure on Wednesday so that we can better identify the problem and any possible solutions. Please pray that this procedure goes well, and that the problem can be easily identified and treated. Thanks.

At Least Hamlet and Horatio Are Still BFFs

Here's a link to a very funny site that retells the story of Hamlet as a series of postings on Shakespeare's Facebook page.

Hat tip to the incomparable Dawn Eden for posting the link.

The Priest Shortage Hits Home

Any Catholic who practices and cares about the future of the faith knows the church today is afflicted with "crisis in vocations"—or to put it more bluntly, a critical shortage of priests and religious. Today that shortage came to my parish. For the first time since I have been a member of my present parish, we were forced to have a Sunday communion service rather than a proper Mass because there was no priest available. Our parish priest has been away for several weeks dealing with a family emergency and, God willing, is scheduled to return next weekend. For the last three weeks, we have had a visiting priest fill in for him, but this weekend that priest was not available.

I was at home recovering from an illness, so I was not at the service today, but it distresses me that we were forced to this pass because of the shortage of priests. I live in rural, eastern South Carolina, an area where Catholics are few and far between, and today was the first time in my memory that my parish has ever been without a priest for Sunday Mass. I can only imagine what the situation is like in areas where the priest shortage is even more severe. On a recent episode of his "Daily Breakfast" podcast, Father Roderick Vonhögen, a priest of the Archdiocese of Utrecht in the Netherlands, estimated that by the year 2015, his diocese would have only 50 active priests available to serve a population of over 1 million Catholics. As it is now, he and each of his fellow priests are responsible for 7-10 parish churches that have been grouped into "mega-parishes" simply because there are no priests available to serve the smaller parish churches.

All of this goes to show how entirely appropriate it is that Pope Benedict has declared a Year of the Priest, to encourage reflection on the importance of priests in Catholic life, to encourage priestly vocations, and to encourage those already serving as priests to keep up their good work and to strive even harder for holiness of life and better service to God and his people.

If you're blessed enough to live in a parish with a resident priest, thank God for it— and thank the priest for his service to you. Pray for him, and pray that God will raise up good and godly men to succeed that priest when the time comes. If you know any unmarried, faithful Catholic men, encourage them to consider the priesthood as a vocation. I seriously considered the priesthood when I was younger, but I lacked the courage to follow through—now I think I would lack the physical health and stamina. I can still pray, however. Pray for your priests! Pray for more priests!

Too Large To Be An Insane Asylum

On hearing that his native state had seceded from the Union in December 1860, James L. Petigru, a unionist and opponent of secession quipped, "South Carolina is to small to be a republic and too large to be an insane asylum."

I thought of that remark a couple of days ago as I got up early to take some medicine and switched on one of the morning news shows. The show gleefully led off with the latest on l'affaire Sanford, the fallout from Gov. Mark Sanford's tearful public admission that he went AWOL from the state capital for a week in order to fly to Argentina for a tryst with his as yet unidentified paramour. The same show included a report on a South Carolina mother who has been charged with abuse and neglect for allowing her teenage son to grow to a gargantuan weight of 550 lbs.

The hosts of this program, who seemed more like gossip columnists than news reporters, interviewed the mother, and I must say, she didn't exactly sound like the brightest bulb on the sign, so it's easy to imagine how that unfortunate situation might have occurred. The Sanford episode, however, boggles the mind. I have to say this in my best Dr. Phil voice: What was he thinking? Did he honestly believe that it would somehow be OK if he sneaked off for a week of extracurricular extramarital activity without telling anyone his true whereabouts? Did he force his staff to put out the cover story that he was stressed out and had gone hiking along the Appalachian Trail, or did they concoct that one themselves?

So far, Gov. Sanford has indicated that he will not resign as governor, but the more I think about it, the more I believe he should. He says he wants to devote his remaining months in office to rebuilding the trust of the people of the state. I think, however the best way he can do that is to voluntarily surrender his office. It would demonstrate that he understands that actions have consequences. It would also remove him from many situations in which he might be tempted to make a similar monumental error in judgment that would have damaging consequences not only for him, but for the whole state. Finally, I think it would allow him to focus his time and energy on rebuilding his relationship with his wife and children, which, if I were in his shoes, would be my first priority.

I love the state of South Carolina. I was born in Georgia, but I've lived here since I was an infant. It's my home. When stuff like this happens, however, I just have to shake my head and wish I were from somewhere else. South Carolina may be too small for a republic and too large for an insane asylum, but I'm afraid it's just the right size for a national embarrassment.

I Have a Follower!

Yes, that's right! I have an official, signed up with Google follower, someone who will blindly obey my every command and help me achieve my plans for world domination, um, I mean, hang on every word I write, um, no, I mean stop in and read what I have to say and maybe leave a comment every so often. You know who you are. Thanks so much. I'm flattered, really. I don't have as many willing slaves as that poser wannabe Dark Lord Mark Shea, but hey, everybody's gotta start somewhere, right?

My first follower . . . (sniffle) . . . I'm so proud!

P. S. Oh, and Dread Dark Lord Mark Shea? Just kidding about that whole "poser wannabe" thing, honest. I mean I'd never . . . What I mean is, I wouldn't dream of . . . Hey! What are you doing? Put that down! No! Please! Aaaaaaaagh!

Some Things That Rise Must Converge

It's odd sometimes how some of my interests come together. As readers of this blog may be aware, I'm fascinated with all things Irish, Scottish, and Welsh, since many of my ancestors came from that part of the world. Readers may also know that I am president of my parish's praesidium (local chapter) of The Legion of Mary, a Catholic organization dedicated to fostering deeper devotion to Jesus Christ and his Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary.

The Legion of Mary was founded on September 7th, 1921, in Dublin Ireland. That may sound like so much interesting historical trivia until you realize, as I did a few days ago, that the 1920s were a very turbulent time in Irish history. In 1921, the Irish had just concluded their War of Independence from Great Britain and set about trying to establish the Republic of Ireland. Tragically, however, the Republican movement soon split into factions because of profound disagreements about what the nature of Ireland's relationship to Britain should be. Each faction accused the other of betraying the revolution and selling out the Irish independence movement. Infighting between the factions escalated into The Irish Civil War of 1922-23. The political fallout from the Irish War of Independence and the Civil War, including the partition of Ireland into the predominantly Catholic and independent Republic and the British and Protestant-controlled territory of Northern Ireland, played a huge part in "The Troubles," the political and sectarian violence that plagued Northern Ireland until very recently.

So what's the connection? At every Legion meeting, members pray for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the world, mercy from the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and prayers and intercession from the Immaculate Heart of Mary—worthy things at any time, to be sure, but especially valuable in times of war and violence. I imagine that to the founders of the Legion, these things were not just pious niceties or pretty phrases, but things they desperately wanted and needed—and things that are just as much wanted and needed in our world today.

Come, O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and enkindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit, O Lord, and they shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Have mercy on us.

Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pray for us.

Prayer Request

Dear Readers,

(All three of you)

Blogging has been sparse around here of late in part because I've been struggling with a medical problem. I'll spare you the gruesome details. It's not major, but it is uncomfortable, messy, embarrassing, and darned inconvenient. With the right medication and treatment I should be back to whatever passes for normal around here in a few days. Until then, I'll just have to grin and bear it. Your prayers would be appreciated.

I Want to See This Movie!

The trouble is, it hasn't been made yet.

As a relative newbie in the world of comics, I gather that a big screen version of the adventures of the Green Lantern is like the holy grail to fans. There are rumors of a Green Lantern project in development, but apparently it hasn't been cast and there isn't yet a final version of the script—in short, it's in "development hell."

I've seen other fan-made GL trailers, but this is by far the best. This effort is from an individual by the name of Jaron Pitts. If you watch the original video on YouTube and click on the "more info" link, he lists dozens of audio and video clips from movies and TV shows that he stitched together (rather expertly, I must say) to make this video. He talks about the development process here. I was blown away by the professional look of this little film. It looks like a real, studio-produced movie trailer. In my humble opinion Nathan Fillion would be an excellent choice to play Hal Jordan/The Green Lantern, but the word is that he probably will not. Until the movie comes out, at least we have this beautiful little dream of what could have been.

Hat tip to Damien Stadler of the HeroMachine Developer's Blog and combox for bringing this to my attention. Thanks, Damien!

Meet Julie Fowlis

I have plans for a fiction writing project that involves some borrowing and adaptation from Celtic mythology, so I've been listening to lots of Celtic music trying to get the mood and atmosphere right. While searching YouTube, I ran across clips of a wonderfully talented singer and downright beautiful young woman named Julie Fowlis who hails from Scotland's Outer Hebrides and sings in Scots Gaelic. Have a listen!

Too true!

I found this via Mark Shea and thought it was too good not to share. Disturbingly accurate, isn't it?

Star Trekkin,' Across The Universe . . .

Boldly going forward, 'cause we can't find reverse!

(with apologies to Dr. Demento)

ATTENTION: Here there be Spoilers. If you haven't seen the movie yet and still want to, DO NOT read this review. You have been warned.

More than three years after I first heard about it, the new Star Trek movie is finally here. I'd say it was worth the wait.

I saw the movie (which is mercifully unburdened with a ponderous or pretentious subtitle) last night with some friends, and we all had a great time. Good fun for hardcore Trekkies/Trekkers and newbies alike. My friend Bill, who, of the three of us, initially seemed the most skeptical and least enthusiastic about a new Star Trek movie, was laughing and hooting delightedly at the action sequences like a kid on a roller coaster ride. Indeed, the whole film is played up like a gigantic action adventure romp, and if the story has a fault, it tends to rely a bit overmuch on eye-popping visual effects, with things crashing into other things and exploding dramatically. On the other hand, the film doesn't take itself too seriously and has a sense of humor, which means that viewers are spared pious lectures about how "non-interference is the Prime Directive," which was never really anything more than a plot contrivance anyway.

Speaking of the plot, it's based on one of those temporal paradox/alternate time line thingies so beloved by Star Trek writers and fans. A renegade Romulan named Nero, who blames the elderly Spock (Leonard Nimoy) for the destruction of his home planet (don't worry, it's all explained in the movie), contrives to travel back in time and attempt to destroy the young Spock early in his career and eliminate Spock's best friend, James T. Kirk, at the moment of his birth.

Nero's first attempt at temporal mayhem fails, however, thanks to the heroic self-sacrifice of Kirk's father, and young Jim Kirk (Chris Pine) and young Spock (Zachary Quinto) meet years later, when the two of them are hotshot young punks fresh out of Starfleet Academy. At first, the two future heroes and fast friends can't stand each other, but events soon force them to put aside their differences. Nero is still up to no good, and he's out to turn the planets of the Federation into black holes, one by one, with the help of a monstrous "space drill." His first target is Spock's home planet Vulcan, followed, of course, by the Earth.

Starfleet pulls out all the stops to meet the crisis, mobilizing its new state-of-the-art flagship, called the Enterprise, and, because experienced crews are in short supply, manning her with untested young cadets. Among these are a cranky Southern surgeon named Leonard "Bones" McCoy; a brilliant young communications officer named Uhura; a nervous fencing expert named Sulu; a cheeky Russian named Chekov; and an irascible, eccentric engineer named Montgomery Scott—in short, all the beloved supporting characters from the original series. Under the wise guidance and heroic example of Captain Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood), the heroes we know and love come together for the first time. When Pike is forced to put himself in jeopardy to protect the Enterprise, it's up to his brash young first officer, Jim Kirk, and the hyper-logical Mr. Spock to devise and execute a desperate plan to save the Earth. Can they do it?

C'mon! This is Star Trek we're talkin' about! Of course they can! Suffice it to say that at the end of the movie, Pike recommends that Kirk replace him as Captain, the crew is assembled on the bridge with Kirk in the center seat, and Leonard Nimoy, in a husky voiceover, proclaims them ready "to boldly go where no one has gone before," like a priest intoning a benediction. The torch has been passed from one generation to the next. The new adventures of the old heroes have begun.

The blend of new and old elements are what the movie is really about. There are many nods to the original series, from the use of the original sound effects to the retro-styled uniforms (Kirk is back in a yellow shirt, Spock and McCoy in blue, and Scotty in red, with Zoe Saldana, the new Uhura, ably filling out a miniskirt-like costume for female officers). And speaking of skirts, Chris Pine as young Jim Kirk chases more than a few of them, and tends to be the "shoot first and ask questions later" kind of captain that fans of the original show may remember. Zachary Quinto, perhaps best known as the psychotic supervillain Gabriel Sylar from the NBC show Heroes, is pitch-perfect as the young Spock. Only Karl Urban, as the younger Bones McCoy seems to be doing a bad DeForest Kelley impersonation. His obligatory, "Damnit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a physicist!" line seems a bit forced. Otherwise, it's almost as if director J. J. Abrams and writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman really do have a time machine and are able to show us the pasts of these characters we know so well.

However, even as Abrams, Orci, and Kurtzman make it clear that they respect the broad outlines of the Star Trek mythology, they also make it clear they are going to do Star Trek their way and not be bound by a slavish obedience to any previous continuity. About halfway through the movie, young Spock observes that by traveling back in time, Nero has irrevocably altered the fates of the Enterprise crew in a way that's impossible to predict. I take that as a message to hardcore fans that if they are looking for absolute consistency between previous versions of Star Trek and this current incarnation, they will be disappointed.

Hence, there are some new wrinkles and surprises in this new version of Star Trek even as it deliberately hearkens back to the old. Fans will be startled and perhaps saddened to learn that in this outing, the planet Vulcan is destroyed, claiming the life of Spock's mother Amanda. Also in this version, there is an open and passionate romance between Spock and Uhura, as opposed to the clandestine and unrequited love between Spock and Nurse Chapel from the original series. Another smaller surprise is the look of the Enterprise herself. The designers and art directors have kept the classic saucer and cylinders configuration that's become something of an icon, but the new/old Enterprise looks both sleeker and more muscular, a starship that really looks like it could kick some serious alien bad guy butt.

Overall, this is a great summer movie with plenty of action, a dash of comedy, and a new look at old friends in a science fiction universe that feels simultaneously familiar and brand new. Let's hope the adventures continue.

My 15 Minutes of Fame

Well, Good Golly, Miss Molly! I'm almost famous.

It seems my recent review of Alan Moore's graphic novel Watchmen has come to the attention of some bloggers I really respect, including John C. Wright, Mark Shea, and some other folks who have asked me to be a guest blogger at ModernConservative.com

Recently, John C. Wright, author of science fiction, master of obscure pop culture references, moral philosopher of the blogosphere, and recent Catholic convert, blogged about how much he hated the film version of Alan Moore's graphic novel V for Vendetta. In the comments I mentioned that I had a very similar reaction to Watchmen and included the link to my review in my comment.

Then, I'll be darned if Mr. Wright didn't actually read the review, quoting it approvingly and at length in a post on his own website. He was particularly impressed with the way in which I was able to cite a pop culture icon of yesteryear, The Shadow, and the great Catholic apologist G. K. Chesterton, in the same essay. Mr. Wright observed:

My comment: Anyone who mentions both Chesterton and The Shadow in the same paragraph has won my favor, and therefore shall be made one of my ministers and granted way-cool ninja-jedi Mind Control powers, once my dirigible planet enters the solar system from the transplutonian darkness. Perhaps I will make him master of Australia, and wed him to my beautiful but evil daughter, Princess Aura.

To which I replied:

You are far too gracious, O Mighty One! I'd settle for the flight powers of the Hawkmen and a ride in your dirigible planet. I'm sure your beautiful but evil daughter Princess Aura is a swell gal, in an evil sort of way, but she's not gonna, like, murder me in my sleep or anything, is she? Just askin'.

This exchange, in turn, came to the attention of Mark Shea, who is, in my humble opinion, the dean of the Catholic blogosphere. He wrote that my essay was "full of wisdom and insight." Imagine! Mark Shea said that something written by li'l ol' me was "full of wisdom and insight." I'm all tingly. Usually the stuff I write around here is definitely full of . . . something . . . but it ain't wisdom and insight!

In the comments to a subsequent post, I received an invitation from one David Marcoe to be a guest blogger for the Modern Conservative website. We corresponded at length, and I am still waiting for final word as to whether they would like me to blog for them. I may include my e-mail to them as a future post.

Stay tuned.

Da!

Your results:
You are Chekov

Chekov 75% Uhura 60% An Expendable Character (Redshirt) 50% Deanna Troi 45% James T. Kirk (Captain) 40% Spock 40% Data 40% Geordi LaForge 35% Worf 35% Jean-Luc Picard 30% Mr. Scott 20% Beverly Crusher 20% Mr. Sulu 15% Will Riker 15% Leonard McCoy (Bones) 10%

Brash, rash and hasty, but everyone loves you.

Click here to take the Star Trek Personality Test

Tarantino vs. The Tempest

This weekend, by a curious coincidence, I happened to see two movies (or parts of movies) that are almost polar opposites of each other: Kill Bill, Quentin Tarantino's epic, two-part, and unbelievably bloody homage to kung fu and mobster movies; and The Tempest, Shakespeare's comedy about a wronged duke who exacts vengeance but then grants forgiveness to his enemies. (Find a synopsis of Kill Bill, Volume 1 here and a synopsis of Kill Bill, Volume 2 here). I admit I only watched bits and pieces of Kill Bill because I was so appalled at the level of violence in the clips I saw that I feared watching the whole movie would be absolutely unbearable. In between, still feeling a bit queasy from the virtually nonstop gore-fest that is Kill Bill, I happened to catch Shakespeare in Love,the brilliant little fantasia that imagines Romeo and Juliet was inspired by a doomed love affair in the young Bard's own life. Indeed, I think it was seeing Shakespeare in Love that motivated me to seek out some of The Bard's actual work as a kind of antidote to the mindless cruelty of Tarantino's films. The Tempest, as it turned out, provided some particularly excellent counterpoint.

As near as I can figure, Kill Bill is simply a gigantic bloody revenge story. Shakespeare was no stranger to bloody revenge stories (Titus Andronicus being the most gruesome and Hamlet being the most famous), but Kill Bill is so blood-soaked that it makes these latter two plays look like episodes of the Teletubbies in comparison. A female assassin known as The Bride (Uma Thurman), finding she is pregnant, decides to get married, go straight, and make a new life for herself and her daughter to be. The day of the wedding rehearsal, however, the entire wedding party is massacred by a team of hitmen dispatched by The Bride's former boss and sometime lover, the crime boss known simply as Bill (David Carradine). The Bride is left for dead, but wakes up from a coma years later, bent on revenge. She trains with a martial arts master to take her homicidal skills to the next level, and, armed with a samurai sword, sets out to chop, kick, smash, slice, and dice her way through what seems to be thousands of Bill's friends, associates, rivals, and minions, all in an effort to get to the man himself.

When she finally succeeds in locating Bill, their final confrontation seems strangely anticlimactic, and she weeps over his dead body. Has her single-minded quest for revenge truly made her happier? She finds the daughter she carried has survived and is actually Bill's child (the cherubic B. B., played by Perla Haney-Jardine). The last shots of the film are of The Bride and B. B. enjoying quality mother-daughter bonding time in a hotel and driving away joyously looking forward to their new life together. The message seems to be that once the Bride has taken revenge on the bastard who hurt her so cruelly, she can finally begin to live.

Contrast this with the plot of The Tempest. Prospero, the Duke of Milan, was wrongly exiled by his treacherous brother Antonio, who was in league with Alonso, the King of Naples, Prospero's enemy. Prospero causes the title tempest to bring all of his enemies together on the island, but explains to Miranda that he prevented anyone from being killed in the storm (Act I, Sc. ii, 30-38). The Bride doesn't seem to care whom she slaughters in her effort to get to Bill. Prospero, by contrast, when he has all of his enemies before him, demands only that his dukedom, that which was rightfully his, be restored to him. He does not punish Antonio any further, but instead forgives him. Would The Bride have said anything like this to Bill?

Flesh and blood,
You, brother mine, that entertained ambition,
Expelled remorse and nature; whom, with Sebastian—
Whose inward pinches therefore are most strong,—
Would here have killed your king; I do forgive thee,
Unnatural though thou art.
(Act V, Sc. i, 81-86)

Somehow, I don't think so. Prospero keeps his promise to release Ariel and even releases Caliban, who had attempted to assault Miranda before the play began (Act I, Sc. ii, 410-416). Caliban comes to recognize the error of his ways and berates himself for plotting against Prospero and forming an alliance with the drunken and venial Stephano and Trinculo:

I'll be wise hereafter,
And seek for grace. What a thrice-double ass
Was I to take this drunkard for a god,
And worship this dull fool!
(Act V, Sc. i, 341-344)

Stephano and Trinculo are likewise forgiven. When he realizes Prospero has saved his son Ferdinand's life, King Alonso begs forgiveness for his part in Prospero's exile. Prospero willingly grants this forgiveness. It struck me while watching the film that The Tempest is practically a meditation on the importance and power of forgiveness. Nobody in Kill Bill, to my knowledge, asks for, receives, or grants forgiveness— or the enlightenment that can come with it.

Kill Bill? If it's Bill Shakespeare, no. I think Shakespeare's plays will be read, acted and discussed long after the films of Quentin Tarantino—especially dreck like Kill Bill—are consigned to the cinematic trash heap where they belong.

Proud Supporter of the "Army of Oppression"

I paid my dues and renewed my membership in the army of oppression Knights of Columbus last night.

Wait, what?

The Knights of Columbus are an "army of oppression" because they oppose same sex marriage?

The pope and Catholic bishops are "discredited leaders" because they believe condom distribution isn't really an effective means of slowing the spread of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases?

Such opinions would no doubt come as a shock to the members of my local K of C Council, but apparently they have been espoused by one Harry Knox, a member of President Obama's Advisory Council on Faith-based and Neighborhood Initiatives. Fred Lucas, a correspondent for the Cybercast News Service (CNS) reported Knox's comments in a story here.

It seems Mr. Knox was upset because Knights in California supported Proposition 8, a proposed amendment to the California state constitution that would have defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman. The State Supreme Court had earlier issued a ruling saying that limiting the definition of marriage to heterosexual couples was unconstitutional discrimination. The ballot measure, a response to the ruling, passed 52.5% to 47.5% (Darn pesky voters!)

Lucas reports:

On Mar. 19, Knox told the San Francisco-based gay newspaper The Bay Area Reporter, “The Knights of Columbus do a great deal of good in the name of Jesus Christ, but in this particular case [Proposition 8], they were foot soldiers of a discredited army of oppression.”

The newspaper further reported: “Knox noted that the Knights of Columbus ‘followed discredited leaders,’ including bishops and Pope Benedict XVI. ‘A pope who literally today said condoms don't help in control of AIDS.’”

While I appreciate Mr. Knox's admission that the Knights do some good, I'd also point out that there is evidence that condoms don't help, and the pope isn't the only one who says so.

Edward C. Green, director of the AIDS Prevention Research Project at the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, writes in a letter to the British medical journal Lancet:

Could condom promotion exacerbate epidemics? The phenomenon of risk compensation—engaging in higher-risk behaviours because risk reduction technology conveys a greater sense of safety than warranted—could account for higher infection rates, and has been suggested by at least one randomised, controlled study, which found that “gains in condom use seem to have been offset by increases in the number of sex partners.”

In other words, people can mistakenly conclude that as long as they have a condom, irresponsible casual sex that dehumanizes both parties is "safe" and can encourage people to spread disease. Funny, that sounds a lot like what the Pope said:

.."I would say that this problem of AIDS cannot be overcome with advertising slogans. If the soul is lacking, if Africans do not help one another, the scourge cannot be resolved by distributing condoms; quite the contrary, we risk worsening the problem. The solution can only come through a twofold commitment: firstly, the humanization of sexuality, in other words a spiritual and human renewal bringing a new way of behaving towards one another; and secondly, true friendship, above all with those who are suffering, a readiness — even through personal sacrifice — to be present with those who suffer. And these are the factors that help and bring visible progress".

But that's not all. Even when the facts are against them, gay rights activists are not only targeting the K of C as an organization, but are also harassing individual Knights who freely volunteer their time to raise money for organizations that support people with mental retardation and developmental disabilities.

It seems that one Brad Allison, a gay man from Fair Oaks, Va. took it upon himself to decide that the Knights of Columbus were a "hate group" because the Knights opposed same-sex marriage, complained to the management of his local grocery store because Knights were soliciting donations there, and harassed both Knights and grocery store patrons who wanted to make donations.

Mr. Allison claims that the Knights' charitable fundraising activities are just a cover for "hate" and compares the Knights to the Ku Klux Klan. These claims are despicable and outrageous. I personally have participated in these fund drives for many years and I know that the overwhelming majority of money raised (on the order of 80%) directly to local people and organizations that need it. Most of the remaining 20% goes to organizations that provide assistance at the state level. Only a tiny fraction of the money is used for administrative costs, and NONE of it is used for other projects such as support of Proposition 8. I have been present when checks have been presented and heard emotional firsthand testimonials about how the money is used and how much it is appreciated.

I find Mr. Allison's comparison of the K of C to the KKK to be particularly absurd, given that for many years I was a member of a council in which most of the officers were African-American. It was one of the most racially integrated and convivial organizations I have ever belonged to. The KKK was and is also staunchly anti-Catholic, which is obviously not true of K of C. No, the only "oppression" going on as far as the Knights of Columbus are concerned is in the minds of radical homosexual activists such as Knox and Allison--which they would know if they bothered to check facts rather than simply indulge in slander and name-calling.

Hat Tips: Mark Shea and Joanna Bogle.

Speaking of Shakespeare (Literally)

Zounds! From that worthy curate, Father Z., we have received tidings that today is Talk Like Shakespeare Day. Come thou, sirrah! Be not a prating coxcomb! Hie thee hence, and visit the site! Stay thee not, thou whoreson zed, thou unnecessary letter! The event is sponsored by men and women, all merely players, known as the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, no doubt to praise the work of the Immortal Bard, not to bury him.

Yea, verily what manner of fortune is this? No more than two days hence, we have posted this treatment most comical of Richard III, that there is a day in honor of the Sweet Swan of Avon? And I almost missed it? O Great Jove! It makes me mad to think on't!

[Exeunt omnes]

You've never seen Shakespeare Like This (Thank Goodness!)

Under Mark Shea's pernicious influence, I've been fooling around with Xtranormal.com, the site that allows you to make movies (after a fashion) by simply typing in a script. Users type in a script and choose a setting, camera angles, background music, preset digitally created characters, and synthesized voices to act out the scene. Here, for example, is my favorite Shakespearian soliloquy from Richard III, Act V, Scene iii. The results are (ahem) slightly unconventional:



I expect to be haunted by Shakespeare's ghost for the rest of my life now.

The Next Generation of Heroes . . .

is coming.

Jeff Hebert, the creator of HeroMachine v. 2.5, one of the coolest websites and software packages ever, has been hard at work on the next major upgrade to HeroMachine since early in January. HeroMachine v. 3.0 will have a huge number of new features, including a larger color palette, greatly expanded layering capabilities, new accessories for characters, and the ability to mark characters and equipment with patterns, including camouflage, tartan, and metallic. But that's not all. With version 3.0, aspiring artists and creators of superheroes will have the opportunity to select individual body parts for the characters, and have the ability to move, scale, and rotate those body parts and accessories, in effect, customizing the look of each character.

Jeff has set up an "alpha" test version of HM 3 (even earlier in the development process than a beta version) and is actively seeking comments, suggestions for improvement, feedback, and bug reports from users. He's been gradually adding and enabling features and components and hopes to have the site completed by some time this summer. Here's a sample character that I created on the new site, Red Hawk:



This looks like it will be really cool when it gets all done. If you like comic books or superheroes or have dreamed of creating your own characters, head on over. In the immortal words of Mark Shea, "Check thou it out."

Another Look at Susan Boyle

Sorry for the repetition, but I just can't get enough of this. What I love about this woman, aside from her obvious vocal talent, is her saucy, sassy attitude and her determination to be absolutely herself, no matter what. The little victory dance she does at the end is just priceless. She knows she doesn't have the fashion model good looks, but she knows she has the musical ability and the drive to see how far it can take her. Would that we all had such courage.





Hat tip to: Patrick Archbold of Creative Minority Report for the clip.

Wow! Again!

From the same people who brought you Paul Potts, here comes Susan Boyle, a frumpy-looking, 47 year-old Scottish woman with a great sense of humor, great talent, and great self-confidence. She's living proof of that old saying, "You can't judge a book by its cover."

Hat tip to Father Dwight Longenecker of Standing on My Head.

Exsultet!

Have a happy and blessed Easter everyone! I've just returned from the Easter vigil at my parish, where our cantor chants the magnificent Easter Proclamation (called the Exsultet, after its first Latin word meaning "Rejoice!") Here's a link to a page with the Latin text and an English translation. And here's some video of the Exsultet chanted in Latin by the monks of Birmingham Oratory in Birmingham, England:



For those of you who are Latin-impaired (a group that includes me, but I'm determined to work on that), here's another video of the Exsultet with the text in English:



He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

An Open Letter to the President

April 7, 2009

President Barack H. Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500

Dear Mr. President:

As a Catholic, as an American, a person with a disability, and as a human being, I must register my profound and unflinching opposition to the egregiously misnamed “Freedom of Choice Act” (FOCA) which has been proposed in Congress and which would in effect make the principle of abortion on demand at any time for any reason the law of the land in the United States. You are on record assuring an audience of Planned Parenthood members and supporters that FOCA would be one of the first pieces of legislation you would sign and that you “will not yield” in your support of this legislation. As I understand it, the legislation as it stands would:

• eliminate any restrictions on abortion including restrictions on late-term abortions, waiting periods before abortions, and parental notification and consent provisions when minor children request abortions—even when polls have consistently shown that the majority of voters support these restrictions as reasonable;

• prevent states or municipalities from passing any laws or ordinances prohibiting or restricting access to abortion within their borders, despite the will of their citizens clearly and legally expressed through such means as votes by state legislatures, ballot initiatives, or referendums;

• and prohibit doctors and hospitals that object to abortion on moral or religious grounds from refusing to perform abortions without risking the loss of government funds or medical licenses.

Mr. President, in your inaugural address, you quoted the father of our country, George Washington, as he attempted to rally the Continental Army during the darkest days of the American Revolution. May I remind you, sir, that at the very beginning of that titanic struggle, the founders of our nation declared:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

Mr. President, I submit it is no accident that the founders enumerated the first unalienable right as the right to life. The right to life is the fundamental human right. Without that, all other human rights are meaningless. The founders were also wise enough to see that the right to life is not granted by the power of the state, nor the authority of the government, but by the will of Almighty God. If a right granted by God, it ought not be taken away by human beings without the most profound consideration and reflection and except in the very gravest of circumstances. For this reason, the Catholic Church has been most forthright in its opposition to both capital punishment and to unjust or unnecessary war when peaceful means exist to resolve disputes between nations. Surely, Mr. President, you would agree with Catholic teaching in these latter cases. I earnestly entreat you to consider making your position more amenable to Catholic teaching on the issue of abortion.

Mr. President, the provisions now proposed, whether in FOCA as a whole or enacted piecemeal through other legislation, will trample on the fundamental right to life for millions of unborn Americans, the most innocent, vulnerable, and defenseless among us, children in the womb. Some may argue that a fetus in the womb is not, in any biological, legal, or moral sense a person with rights that must be respected under law. But surely you sir, as an African-American, know that similar arguments were once used to deny African-Americans their fundamental rights of life and liberty? Let us not go back to such dark days and such specious reasoning. If a fetus in the womb is denied its fundamental rights to life and liberty, it will never even have the opportunity to develop into a being that would be universally recognized as a human person. Thus, a unique and irreplaceable human life would be lost. Mr. President, if we have the power to prevent such a tragedy, let us do so. I implore you to reconsider your support for this legislation.

Not only will this legislation trample on the rights to life and liberty of the unborn themselves; it will trample on the rights of liberty of conscience, both for institutions such as hospitals supported by religious organizations and for individual doctors, nurses, and other health care providers who refuse to provide, participate in, or enable abortions for moral or religious reasons. Just as the right to life is the first unalienable and divinely granted human right, the right to practice one's religion in accord with the dictates of one's conscience is among the very first liberties guaranteed Americans by the First Amendment to the U. S. Constitution.

Finally, not only would this legislation run roughshod over fundamental human rights of life and liberty, but it would also make a mockery of American principles of federalism and representative government. If the will of the people in a specific locality regarding something so fundamental as the protection of human life can always and everywhere be overridden by a federal mandate, than we as a nation have gone a very long way towards surrendering our essential liberties.

In short, Mr. President, I believe this legislation and its provisions, whether enacted in whole or in part, constitute nothing less than a direct and deliberate assault on fundamental human rights to life, liberty of conscience, and representative government, and I will do everything in my power to oppose them. In my view, FOCA would be profoundly destructive of the ends of good government enumerated by the founders, and I fully intend to utilize my rights as an American to lawfully alter or abolish the government that pursues such destructive and evil policies. Destroying the lives of the innocent can never be justified as health care, and ignoring the conscience and will of the people can never be defended as good public policy.


Sincerely,

Neil R. Leslie

Happy National Tartan Day!

for, as long as but a hundred of us remain alive, never will we on any conditions be brought under English rule. It is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for freedom -- for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself.

The Arbroath Declaration.

Happy National Tartan Day! On this day in the year 1320, a delegation of Scottish nobles signed a letter composed by the abbot of Arbroath Abbey and sent to to Pope John XXII, declaring that Scotland would never submit to English rule and appealing to the pope for a judgment against the English. One of the signatories, Andrew Leslie, may have been a distant ancestor of mine. This document is considered Scotland's national declaration of independence and may have been a model for the American Declaration of Independence some 400 years later. April 6 has since become known as National Tartan Day an opportunity for Americans of Scottish descent, such as your humble blog host, to show off their Scottish pride. Hat tip to the incomparable Fiona Ritchie, host of The Thistle & Shamrock, for bringing this to my attention.

Suas Alba! (Loosely translated: Up with Scotland, Hurray for Scotland, Scotland Rocks, etc.)