Points to Ponder:
(From the Rerum Novarum Archive)
People today are programmed to look outward for peace of mind and soul and they will never find it exteriorly. They either have it interiorly or they do not. [Circa November 30, 2002)]
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Saturday, February 08, 2020
Wednesday, February 05, 2020
I'm really into ghost towns. I've driven cross-country the past few summers, and I would stop at some ghost towns along the way. They're like a microcosm of America as a whole. [Hong Chau]
Ghost towns exist in a variety of ways. For example, late last month, I found myself recalling with fondness the days of St. Blogs when there was once a vibrant writing community which for various reasons has disappeared. It has been replaced by a proverbial ghost town these days. A variety of reasons likely explain this phenomenon. For example, some members have passed on. Others perhaps had a combination of life circumstances as well as some burnout out as I did{1} and disappeared never to return. Others stayed on in some capacity however reduced{2} while a handful of others never seem to have left.{3} Certainly the proliferation of various social media formats such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc played I am sure no small role in this. In some respects, it may be better but in others it is surely not.
I think in particular at this time of some who have passed on such as Gerard Serafin whose websites were always ones I enjoyed visiting and from which I learned a good deal. Unfortunately, only one of his sites{4} remains online since his passing in 2004. Another was Karen Marie Knapp of From The Anchor Hold who passed on back in 2007. It really says something about someone such as David Alexander whose Man With Black Hat site started prior to my own and in all that time has never ceased production to at least some degree.{5} And while more could be noted, these few will have to suffice for now.
Rest in Peace Gerard and Karen.
Notes:
{1} Notification of Suspension (circa December 19, 2009)
{2} For example, Jeff Miller's The Curt Jester site.
{3} For example, G. Thomas Fitzpatrick's Recta Ratio site.
{4} The other is his old Praise of Glory website from which I learned so much about my eastern roots.
{5} It would seem his site has slowed some in recent years but considering my own was dormant for nearly eight years before resuming operations, it is still no small feat I have to say.
Ghost towns exist in a variety of ways. For example, late last month, I found myself recalling with fondness the days of St. Blogs when there was once a vibrant writing community which for various reasons has disappeared. It has been replaced by a proverbial ghost town these days. A variety of reasons likely explain this phenomenon. For example, some members have passed on. Others perhaps had a combination of life circumstances as well as some burnout out as I did{1} and disappeared never to return. Others stayed on in some capacity however reduced{2} while a handful of others never seem to have left.{3} Certainly the proliferation of various social media formats such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc played I am sure no small role in this. In some respects, it may be better but in others it is surely not.
I think in particular at this time of some who have passed on such as Gerard Serafin whose websites were always ones I enjoyed visiting and from which I learned a good deal. Unfortunately, only one of his sites{4} remains online since his passing in 2004. Another was Karen Marie Knapp of From The Anchor Hold who passed on back in 2007. It really says something about someone such as David Alexander whose Man With Black Hat site started prior to my own and in all that time has never ceased production to at least some degree.{5} And while more could be noted, these few will have to suffice for now.
Rest in Peace Gerard and Karen.
Notes:
{1} Notification of Suspension (circa December 19, 2009)
{2} For example, Jeff Miller's The Curt Jester site.
{3} For example, G. Thomas Fitzpatrick's Recta Ratio site.
{4} The other is his old Praise of Glory website from which I learned so much about my eastern roots.
{5} It would seem his site has slowed some in recent years but considering my own was dormant for nearly eight years before resuming operations, it is still no small feat I have to say.
Tuesday, February 04, 2020
On Amoris Laetitia, Argumentation Fallacies, The Eye Beams of Some More Faithful Than Thou Folks, Etc.
This is taken at least partly from a social media interaction recently. My words will be in regular font. Without further ado...
A bishop gives Holy Communion to public sinners at Mass in the Vatican...gee...that’s a mighty nice Familiaris Consortio and Book of the Holy Gospels you have there...it would be a shame if someone Amoris Laetitia’ed them...
Priests give communion to detractors, caluminators, and slanderers all the time whose sins in these area are of a public nature. Somehow that gets passed over though in the whole Animal Farmish "all public sin is bad but some public sin is more bad than others" mantra sadly more prevalent today amongst folks on the right than it once was.
Shawn...is this a real comment?
Yes MMMMMMM, it is.
The left makes this argument all the time...
That is a variation of the red herring fallacy known as the association fallacy. Something is not right or wrong based on who says it but instead by more objective criteria. And the argument is valid irrespective of who makes it.
one doesn’t live in a state of detraction...one lives in a state of adultery...
It is easier to commit regular and frequent calumny and false witness than it is to commit adultery.
one doesn’t live in a state of bank robbery...
Plenty of folks live lives full of regular slander and calumny. And often those folks do not confess these sins because they do not recognize what they are doing is sinful. But they go to communion anyway and the odds are high that they are not refused communion when they go either.
one lives in a state of abortion support...
One can live in states of heresy or schism in a variety of ways, not just abortion support. And for a lot of folks, perpetual calumny and false witness are as regular to them as the air they breathe. The advent of the Internet and social media have made this a very pervasive problem.
detraction...bank robbery...etc...are singular acts...
It is not that simple. There are at times single acts that is sure but there can also be pervasive patterns of detraction, calumny, slander/libel, and general thievery which are anything but singular acts.
the other thing involves one constant state of life..or constant frame of mind that is also public until it is changed...
That is a very convenient way to excuse one set of very grave sins. The admonion to the Pharisees by Jesus to remove the beam in ones own eye before trying to remove the specks in one's neighbours eye (cf Matt. vii,1-5) comes to mind here.
the Canons are clear...the commentaries on the Canons are clear....the canonists are clear...the moral theologians are clear...the saints commenting on them are clear...
You sound like a Protestant here with the whole "its perspicuous" argument with your particular hobby horses. Plus, the sources you refer to in bulk have a greater variegation to them than you are appearing to claim. By contrast, there is unanimity in the spiritual traditions west and east where issues frequently ignored by the More Faithful Than Thou are concerned. Issues such as the spiritual sickness of rash judgment for example. I could note others but that example is as good as any.
The argument that well there are other sins too is literally a leftist and impoverished one...
Yet more from the red herring fallacy variant known as the association fallacy I see. And actually, it is far from impoverished. The argument that there are grave sins frequently passed over by folks on the right while they bicker about the specks in the eyes of their chosen deplorables is not just a leftist one. There are folks on the left and the right who do the same thing with their pet issues and with the one you mention, its a prevalent problem with folks from the right.
it fails to to take into account the nature of an individual action and the possibility of repentance verses literally wallowing in something...publicly...persistently...obstinently...etc...
With all due respect, the tradosphere does plenty of precisely what you refer to here. They are not alone in this but all general groups have their issues where they ignore or make excuses for some grave sins (usually ones their comrades frequent) while condemning in stark terms the objectively grave sins of others. As I said, its very Animal Farmish.
it’s an apples and oranges comparison if there ever was one...
With all due respect, you are mistaken.
This is taken at least partly from a social media interaction recently. My words will be in regular font. Without further ado...
A bishop gives Holy Communion to public sinners at Mass in the Vatican...gee...that’s a mighty nice Familiaris Consortio and Book of the Holy Gospels you have there...it would be a shame if someone Amoris Laetitia’ed them...
Priests give communion to detractors, caluminators, and slanderers all the time whose sins in these area are of a public nature. Somehow that gets passed over though in the whole Animal Farmish "all public sin is bad but some public sin is more bad than others" mantra sadly more prevalent today amongst folks on the right than it once was.
Shawn...is this a real comment?
Yes MMMMMMM, it is.
The left makes this argument all the time...
That is a variation of the red herring fallacy known as the association fallacy. Something is not right or wrong based on who says it but instead by more objective criteria. And the argument is valid irrespective of who makes it.
one doesn’t live in a state of detraction...one lives in a state of adultery...
It is easier to commit regular and frequent calumny and false witness than it is to commit adultery.
one doesn’t live in a state of bank robbery...
Plenty of folks live lives full of regular slander and calumny. And often those folks do not confess these sins because they do not recognize what they are doing is sinful. But they go to communion anyway and the odds are high that they are not refused communion when they go either.
one lives in a state of abortion support...
One can live in states of heresy or schism in a variety of ways, not just abortion support. And for a lot of folks, perpetual calumny and false witness are as regular to them as the air they breathe. The advent of the Internet and social media have made this a very pervasive problem.
detraction...bank robbery...etc...are singular acts...
It is not that simple. There are at times single acts that is sure but there can also be pervasive patterns of detraction, calumny, slander/libel, and general thievery which are anything but singular acts.
the other thing involves one constant state of life..or constant frame of mind that is also public until it is changed...
That is a very convenient way to excuse one set of very grave sins. The admonion to the Pharisees by Jesus to remove the beam in ones own eye before trying to remove the specks in one's neighbours eye (cf Matt. vii,1-5) comes to mind here.
the Canons are clear...the commentaries on the Canons are clear....the canonists are clear...the moral theologians are clear...the saints commenting on them are clear...
You sound like a Protestant here with the whole "its perspicuous" argument with your particular hobby horses. Plus, the sources you refer to in bulk have a greater variegation to them than you are appearing to claim. By contrast, there is unanimity in the spiritual traditions west and east where issues frequently ignored by the More Faithful Than Thou are concerned. Issues such as the spiritual sickness of rash judgment for example. I could note others but that example is as good as any.
The argument that well there are other sins too is literally a leftist and impoverished one...
Yet more from the red herring fallacy variant known as the association fallacy I see. And actually, it is far from impoverished. The argument that there are grave sins frequently passed over by folks on the right while they bicker about the specks in the eyes of their chosen deplorables is not just a leftist one. There are folks on the left and the right who do the same thing with their pet issues and with the one you mention, its a prevalent problem with folks from the right.
it fails to to take into account the nature of an individual action and the possibility of repentance verses literally wallowing in something...publicly...persistently...obstinently...etc...
With all due respect, the tradosphere does plenty of precisely what you refer to here. They are not alone in this but all general groups have their issues where they ignore or make excuses for some grave sins (usually ones their comrades frequent) while condemning in stark terms the objectively grave sins of others. As I said, its very Animal Farmish.
it’s an apples and oranges comparison if there ever was one...
With all due respect, you are mistaken.
Sunday, February 02, 2020
On Broadening the Twitter Tag, Social Media in General, Etc.:
A couple of years ago, I bowed a bit to the realities of the present age and introduced a Twitter sub post tag to this website for posts which deal with or post Twitter related material. I explained my reason as follows:
Note:
{1} On Twitter, Website Formatting, and A New Subtag (circa May 13, 2018)
A couple of years ago, I bowed a bit to the realities of the present age and introduced a Twitter sub post tag to this website for posts which deal with or post Twitter related material. I explained my reason as follows:
Twitter first launched to the public if my sources are right in the summer of 2006. I became aware of the phenomenon in 2007 but only launched my own twitter account in December of 2009 roughly around the time that this website was suspended in perpetuity...
For better or worse, Twitter has become a pervasive force for communication and with a president who makes particular use of it[...], it seems appropriate to me to subtag Twitter themed threads.{1}In like manner, Facebook has been a pervasive social media communication source for a good decade or more and I have made use of it since mid 2008 for various things. As other social media sources may well come along over time, it seems appropriate to get a bit ahead of the curve here and create a sub tag to cover all of those which exist now and which may exist in the future. With that in mind, with this posting I want to inaugurate the new social media social media sub tag which will read in perpetuity as follows:
- SocialMedia
Note:
{1} On Twitter, Website Formatting, and A New Subtag (circa May 13, 2018)