A Godly Super Bowl?

So here we are. A few days before the big game in Miami where the Monsters of the Midway will take on the Baltimore... er... Indianapolis Colts to decide who will be the most surprising bust of next years season according to ESPN writers. (Doesn't John Clayton look like those weird pink stress ball things? There is irony there somewhere)

Ah Miami, CSI, Cuban refugees, hanging chads, it promises to be an event to remember. People in Indianapolis yesterday stood out in the cold for half the morning to watch the players get on a plane 50 yards from a barbed-wire fence. One blue-and-white decked fan said, "I just wanted my kids to be able to see the team." This of course entailed taking them out of school and risking pneumonia in the Indiana cold, but we all understand what it means for you to be the one guy who cares so much about some guys you don't know to be there to watch them ignore you.

But while the establishment corporations spin out overtime (as in one and a half times more per hour) chips, jerseys, and hard-hats (???) lets not get worked up about the consumerism and remember that the Colts and the Bears are both owned by traditional Catholics.

Virginia McCaskey, majority owner of the Bears, is an ardent irish Catholic who regularly lends support to Catholic programs such as the Midtown Educational Foundation, run by Opus Dei. Jim Irsay is a Roman Catholic who is rumored by one young pro-life wife of a lawyer to move in more conservative Catholic circles in Indianapolis.

So what does this mean for Catholics in Indy and Chicago? Well, Chicagoans seem to like that the Bears are Catholic-owned but won't say much else. One resident fan was quoted, "Yeah that is cool, wasn't Walter Payton some kind of religion too?" On the other hand, the beat on (ahem) the Colts is that the Colts' fans seem to believe that their coming to the superbowl is some sort of spiritual event.

One commentator recollected, "Later, devout Christian & Colt's Head Coach Tony Dungy said, “We just have to thank the Lord. He did it in such a way that no one would believe it.” These two men are known for walking the talk and don't tend throw out the God card flipantly. Dungy seems to believe God had a role in yesterday's game, or at least a role in how the team played."

In fact, Dungy does.
First Black Super Bowl Coaches Say 'The Lord Set this Up'
"It means a lot," said Dungy, according to the Associated Press. "I'm very proud to represent African-American coaches."Not only are they making history representing African-American coaches, but both coaches are also representing Christ."The Lord set this up in a way that no one would believe it," said Dungy, according to the Baptist Press. "The Lord tested us a lot this year, but He set this up to get all the glory."

Right Tony, God set this up, and your bonuses too. Don't mind the hard work, preparation, and determination by every team in the NFL, God willed two of the best teams in the NFL to meet in Miami. God knew it was finally time to complete the civil rights movement. Even better, God willed Chicago to dash the Cinderella story of the year in New Orleans. God willed the supposed only hope existing of that underwater Southern jungle to sink again back into namelessness. You are a priest in the Mass of Televised Violence. In persona Christi could be tagged onto that if Christ wears a tacky sweater vest, headphones, and leaves all the work to St. Peter the quarterback (greek for "Keys to the Kingdom" I think).

Can you imagine some Chicago fan of Polish/Irish/German/Italian Catholic stock talking like this? Maybe in an SNL parody. (Remember that Ditka versus God turned out to be a good game and he pulled one out versus the Holy Angels by a Safety) Midwesterners and Southerners are notorious for this blending of the secular and sacred. All things American are presumed good and holy. It is part of its grotesque charm ripe for slight in a Flannery O'Connor story. All sides claim God as their own and that God is impartial at the same time. If it is in good fun, (like my priest jokingly saying that the Colts play under the Blue mantle of Our Lady of Victory) , it is funny. If it is a statement of attempted fact, it is funnier.

Regardless, I hope to find myself with the Chicago fans come Superbowl Sunday. When you live around this all the time, the quaint, fat hoosier debtor isn't of much interest. It loses its charm slowly, but you can't disown it only avoid it strategically. I think I will be travelling to a small bar in Illinois for the occasion. The game will be enough entertainment and I don't need Pastor Coltsfan leading us in "We shall Overcome" when, proving nature matters as much as grace, Urlacher, Briggs, and the Bears defense crucify Manning upside down on the goalposts.

Duebster

Honey, Get The Shotgun

I would love to see just how much was invested in this horse's attempted recovery. Money and time spent on treatment, cards, gifts, media coverage and watching the movie Seabiscuit over and over again. Well, in the end this story was more akin to Old Yeller than Seabiscuit. Sorry, Duebster. This is probably hard for you to take. I know that you've always wanted a pony.

Diversity, Equality, and The Leveller called Dodgeball

No dodging love of the game

Bethel dodgeball team is a real hit

By RIDDI TRIVEDITribune Staff Writer
Tribune Photo/DAVID WITHAM

MISHAWAKA -- The eight people line up on two ends of the court.
Gabriel Wallis raises his hand and at the count of three, two players from each side make a mad dash for the two balls at the center line. One player from either side grabs it and the others . . . run.
Balls zip through the air as the teams jump and duck so as not to get hit. A battle rages for possession.
There is no referee. Each time a player gets hit, he walks off the court voluntarily. But the cheering continues from the sidelines and the noise and excitement do not decrease till the last player of either team is hit and eliminated.
There is pause before the next game. Then the noise and flurry of activity begins anew.
After the game, the guys give each other high-fives and plop down tired but happy and exchange stories and good natured banter.

The Bethel College Bombadeers are practicing hard.
They have a big dodgeball tournament in Illinois today.
"Teams from all over the world will be participating -- from India, Canada, Mexico and all over the place," Matt Kirsch said.
Kirsch and his teammates -- Brandon Greenwawalt, Matt Eaton, Joe Sabo, Shawn Maust, Nate Engbrecht, Gabriel Wallis, Zach Andrews and Ryan Stutsman -- all Bethel college students or recent graduates, feel strongly about their sport.
"I think it is stupid to ban dodge ball from schools," said Sabo.
For 19-year-old Sabo, dodgeball is all about, ". . . going back to my elementary school roots. It brings back those "'good ol' days" for me."

Andrews agreed. "They claim it doesn't teach the children anything. I challenge them to support that. I learned so many important lessons of my life here playing dodgeball with these guys -- camaraderie, honesty, teamwork." A philosophy major, no one quite recalls how and when he earned the nickname "The Piper" but Andrews claims it is because he is a natural leader and people follow him like they followed The Pied Piper of Hamlin in the children's tale.
Always cracking jokes and ready to break into a laugh he added as a jibe, "I think dodgeball also taught me survival of the fittest: Social Darwinism."

The venture started as an antidote to winter boredom and cabin fever. In March, Kirsch and another classmate, John Steiner -- who has now graduated and gone back home to Georgia -- decided to get some guys together and see if they could get a team to play. And the response was even better than they expected. "Some games we have 50-70 people show up and the we play with six or seven balls at a time. So you have people going for you from everywhere at one. You've got to be really quick and agile," explained Eaton.

They even had a girl play on the team for a while and a few professors joined in too. "She was actually pretty good," said Wallis. Maust remembered how they once had a couple of guys show up and sing the national anthem at the beginning and the end of the game, "and in tuxedos too," Eaton piped up.

The recent death of good friend Dave Slater, their residence-hall advisor, struck a sad note for them. "All of us have at one point or the other lived in Oakwood Hall -- Dave's dorm," said Eaton.
"In fact, our venture began from there. He was our friend, supporter and mentor."
Eaton was an RA for Slater. Many of them also lived with Slater at various points. "We are going to put up patches on our shirts for Dave," Kirsch said.
Team members also remembered how Slater had been with them when they planned their first all-nighter event. "We had it at Oakwood and we were out there all night; and Dave was with us - all night," said Engbrecht.

The team plays every Wednesday during the school year. At the end of the spring semester, they had their very own season-end blowout. They made team T-shirts from old polo and rugby shirts, made patches for the shirts, had their very own hall of fame and even gave out awards.

"We are a self proclaimed Division I Varsity Team and we challenge any other college or university to put out their own team and have a game with us," said Kirsch only half-joking.
But they cannot wait to have a go at real competition. After their team took shape, they found out about the tournament in Chicago from a website, www.dodgeballusa.com.
The website has information about the various kinds of dodgeball, its rules, event listings and much more. This year's national tournament -- the one in which the Bombadeers will be participating -- is at Olympic Park in Schaumburg.
But the Bombadeers are hoping to do more. "We talked to a couple people who want to start a collegiate dodgeball tournament here," Kirsch said "It has never been done before and if that gets the kind of support we have been getting from people, I am sure its only a matter of time before the game filters down once again to the high school and middle school or even elementary school level."
As for the upcoming tournament, "We don't care if we win or not. There will be plenty of good teams - some far better than us," admitted Kirsch. "But, we want to be known as the team that loves dodgeball the most."

A solution?

Interesting story with a solution to the current "problems" with diversity and equality. Sure, it is not minorities practicing law or women in government, but the moral is the same -- What do you do when you are part of an underrepresented class in any business or area of life? First, you decide how important it is to be a part of this group and then you do things the old fashoined way and work hard to suceed:

“I started promoting women’s events when I got into my late 20s. I saw other girls interested in chopping and sawing, so I started writing letters to all these women. I took my idea to the Lumberjack Association. They said we don’t have any money. I said I’ll get the money. They said we don’t have time for it. I said we’d do it in the morning. They said what about judges? I’ll provide the judges. What about the wood? I’ll provide the wood... I presented the prize money for the first three years and then it was like they couldn’t fight it.”

Notice the things that this lady did not do while suceeding: boycott or protest all Lumberjacks who did not let women compete; petition the government to install some quota system in the world of competitive log rolling; undergo some subversive thought control program to brainwash people into thinking that women were necessary in the sport. No, she just worked hard and perfected her accuracy with an axe until a big enough fan base wanted to see the Lumberjills. Revolutionary.

Arrogance

Why is it that in order to write for the religious beat, you have to be anti- or non-religious? This guy seems to think that he knows what it takes to be Pope. And he certainly knows arrogance when he sees it. As Escriva wrote, "A few are wicked, and many are ignorant: that is how the enemy of God and of the Church reigns. Let us confound the wicked, and enlighten the minds of the ignorant. With the help of God, and with our effort, we will save the world." So I "enlightened" him regarding his ignorance with a friendly email.

Social Control (again)

I just found this. Amazing.

Bill would require teen girls to get HPV vaccineThe Indianapolis Star
Indiana girls would be vaccinated against one of the nation's most common sexually transmitted diseases if a proposal endorsed by all 13 women in the state Senate prevails.
Vaccinations against human papilloma virus, or HPV, has a groundswell of support among school nurses and state health officials, although critics say it could give children the green light to have sex.Senate Bill 327 would require HPV vaccines in girls before the start of sixth grade. A vaccine approved last year by the Food and Drug Administration wards off some strains of HPV, which can cause genital warts and cervical cancer....

Whole article: http://www.chronicle-tribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070118/NEWS05/70118002

Social Control

This being my first post on this blog, I guess I could succumb to temptation and say too much so I will try and maintain discipline. Qahal never sleeps and wouldn't let me get away with that anyway.
There is a theme that I have been keeping my eye on for some time and I would like to use my first post to discuss this. The theme is social control and it is something that I have come into contact here in Indianapolis for some time though it existed noticeably even when I was in elementary school.

Here was the latest attempt of the powers that be to affect my life and make me more like the drones that buzz about the world of business.

I am sitting for the bar exam in my state. For first time takers, there is a mandatory interview that one must have with a lawyer who I believe volunteers to conduct. The attorney is given all sorts of information about the candidate who is expected to answer some general questions about professional responsibility and the structure of the bar association (Like with trusts that give interest to the bar guild, er... association).

Fine, I am ok with that. Don't commingle funds, don't lie, don't get committed, no sex with people in jail.

But then things get a little weird, (or red if you prefer). The attorney asks me, "Do you think that diversity is important?" "Sure," I waffle. "Do you think it is important to have a diverse legal community?" "What does that mean?" She says, "It means that minorities are represented in the legal community." "I think they will have representation whether their attorney is a minority or not." (She doesn't get my equivocation of "representation" which humors me and gives me a sense of superiority). I conclude, "I think it is more important that we have good lawyers rather than having bad lawyers of all different colors." I am dismissed cooly.
"Do you know about the Indiana Sup. Ct.'s affirmative action program?" No. "It is to help natives including alaskans and hawaiians as well as other minorities who can't get into law school take classes in the summer before their first semester to bring them up to speed. Do you support this?" I return, "I don't like being discriminated against (quietly thinking about alcoholism rates amongst lawyers and reveling in the humor of my stereotypes)." She understands but seems to find me a bit too willing to associate myself with the discriminated, which she, as a yankee black woman, knows all about I'm sure. I say then, "How many German Catholics are lawyers here?" No answer. "Well, that is what I am and no one seems to think that that is diversity." "I have nothing to do with people in Southern Indiana whatever their race and I don't like being lumped in with them." She is taken aback by how fast the gloves came off and moves on.

She ends it all by telling me that she will give me a middle rating which is essentially a C in a pass/fail course. I don't expect to hear from the bar, but the fact that some woman gets to check and make sure that I have sympathy for people who are lazy or unintelligent and come from cultures that don't take pride in hard work I found unbelievable. Social Control, I believe is the dominant theme of modern liberalism, from the French Revolution (like de Sade), through to the rise of Birth Control (Meg Sanger, Rockefellers, and Paul Blanshard), the Civil Rights movement (you know who), advertising (Bernays) on to pornography (Dershowitz et al (read his CV and how much he was involved with porn early on) as some sort of protected speech. This is our America. Make sure you are in lock-step with the liberal apparatus, otherwise, you might not be able to here.

How to Handle The Media

Speaking of guy love, how about that Bobby Knight. After his Texas Tech Red Raiders upset the #5 University of Kansas Jayhawks the fans stormed the court. Knight tried unsuccessfully to hold them back, clearly upset that they had collectively chosen such an undisciplined course of action:

As they did two years ago, the fans stormed the court and chanted "Bob-by! Bob-by!" after Knight left the court. "I couldn't believe all those fans coming on the floor until I realized we broke the record again," Knight deadpanned about getting win No. 883 against the Jayhawks.

After reading that, I about hit the floor as well. Then, when asked whether this win will carry over to his team's next game against Texas A&M:

"You never know that," Knight said. "You'd like to do that but you're not dealing with robots that you press buttons. You're dealing with kids."

And the always classic:

Texas Tech reserve forward Darryl Dora was averaging 5.2 points before erupting for 19 in Saturday’s win over the Jayhawks. Asked why Dora doesn’t perform like that more consistently, Texas Tech coach Bob Knight said: “Maybe the moon wasn’t right. How the hell would I know? If I knew that I wouldn’t be talking to you people.”

Why isn't Bobby Knight the White House Press Secretary? I think we would all be a little better off.

Guy Love

A big thanks to Qahal for the telephone call last night. It takes a special guy love to phone a friend so that he won't miss a musical on TV!



I owe you one, Vanilla Bear.

Star Wars

I read this article today and had a severe case of deja vu. I think we've all seen this before.

Thanks to the visionaries at Atari, many of us have been trained to handle this situation. And its looking more and more each day like we will soon be called to serve our country by putting our training to use at the helm of MISSILE COMMAND!

Battle of the Sexes

If I actually trusted a school to properly form and educate my children, it would ideally be an institution that separated the sexes. I'm glad that the trend of throwing everyone together into one big classroom to see what happens is gradually starting to regress.

When The Saints Go Marching

So maybe the Iraqis don't want Starbucks (I expect Dubious to refer to this franchise in Chinese from here on out) or MTV. But maybe what they need are the Saints.

Something about this story just doesn't sit right with me. Do sports teams actually instill hope? or are they just distractions? And do those people most affected by suffering and poverty really feel such a deep connection to "their" team?

"If the Saints are a broken city’s No. 1 reason to celebrate, Benson has become the hangover — the thing that dims the joy a little for folks, the headache that waits next year, no matter what happens this season. People here have lost a lot. They can’t imagine losing the Saints, too."

Is that really the breaking point? Losing their football team?

Give Me A Reason

I'm no military expert or international diplomat, so I can't honestly tell you what the President's latest course of action is actually going to achieve. It seems reasonable to think that a greater strength of force can crush the enemy and curb the violent attacks in the short run. But our ultimate goal in Iraq is now to establish democracy in the Muslim world. And, when you consider this, you might start to wonder if any army, regardless of size and firepower, can accomplish such a task.

The metaphysical support for natural law not only laid the foundations for modern science, but also provided the basis for the gradual development of constitutional government. The primacy of power in Islamic thought undermined a similar prospect. If one does not allow for the existence of secondary causes, one cannot develop natural law. If one cannot develop natural law, one cannot conceive of a constitutional political order in which man—through his reason—creates laws to govern himself and behave freely. Because democracies base their political order on reason and free will, and leave in play questions that Islamists believe have been definitively settled by revelation, Islamists regard democracies as their natural and fatal enemies.

What can the military accomplish in such an environment? See, e.g., The Battle of Lepanto.

And while I'm on the subject, why hasn't the story ever been made into a summer blockbuster? Ridley Scott could direct and Orlando Bloom could star as Don Juan. It would be a great opportunity to highlight the rational nature of the Muslim culture while juxtaposing the deceptive and tyrannical practices of the Church. And if we are really lucky, they'll incorporate a scene where Orlando murders a priest with no remorse and leaves the audience to feel as though the entire Church, and not just that one priest, had it coming. Oh, that's been done?

I would like to hate YouTube, but I just can't

Not since Dylan has any musician used music to address such an important issue. And nice recorder skills!

Flippity-floppity

Here is a story about hypocricy in Congress. Big Deal. It is nothing new and we should expect nothing less:

House Republicans yesterday declared "something fishy" about the major tuna company in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's San Francisco district being exempted from the minimum-wage increase that Democrats approved this week.

But what I find more problematic than the hypocrisy in Congress is the incompetence in Congress:

Some Republicans who voted in favor of the minimum-wage bill were particularly irritated to learn yesterday -- after their vote -- that the legislation did not include American Samoa.

"I was troubled to learn of this exemption," said Rep. Mark Steven Kirk, Illinois Republican. "My intention was to raise the minimum wage for everyone. We shouldn't permit any special favors or exemptions that are not widely discussed in Congress. This is the problem with rushing legislation through without full debate."

So I guess the Republicans are the stupid party. Rep. Kirk either (1) did not read the bill that he voted for; or (2) did not understand the bill he voted for. Either way, I think he loses his opportunity to complain after he votes for the bill -- isn't that the standard to which they held John Kerry? Never mind incompetence, we are back to hypocricy again.


* p.s. sorry I didn't include any Escriva, that seems to be the new theme. Perhaps you can add something fitting Qahal?

Cor Unum et Anima Una

"Pray to God that in the Holy Church, our Mother, the hearts of all may be one heart, as they were in the earliest times of Christianity; so that the words of Scripture may be truly fulfilled until the end of the ages: Multitudinis autem credentium erat cor unum et anima una - the company of the faithful were of one heart and one soul.

I am saying this to you in all seriousness: may this holy unity not come to any harm through you. Take it to your prayer." - St. Escriva, The Forge, par. 632

The Work

"Be convinced that if you do not learn to obey, you will never be effective."

"When you are told what to do, let no one show more alacrity than you in obeying; whether it is hot or cold, whether you feel keen or are tired, whether you are young or less so, it makes no odds. Someone who 'does not know how to obey' will never learn to command."

- St. Josemaria Escriva, The Forge, par. 626-627.

Some Serious Mind Bullet Action

Interestingly, gnosticism isn't just being embraced by some modern Biblical "scholars" (apparently orthodoxy is "certainly not a minority position within early Christianity studies" according to Ransom's linked article below. In other words, orthodoxy is the majority amongst biblical scholars, but why would they want to say it so affirmatively) as a challenge to the authority of the Catholic Church. It is also core to many of the beliefs of the Mormon church.

One particular example is explained in the following article:

There are many similarities between early Gnosticism and Mormonism; of interest here is the similar emphasis on form over substance and of technique over reality. The LDS sect and its apologists claim, in essence, that since they say they believe in Jesus Christ, they must be Christian. But what someone says is only as meaningful and valid as the object referred to––reality cannot be manipulated by words. Yet this approach was the norm for Joseph Smith, whose life was a series of manipulations involving dreams of treasure, power, greed, lust, and even occultic practices. It was natural that Smith would become involved in Masonry since it promised control over the material realm, gave power to a select few, and relied on secret techniques, all hallmarks of Gnostic practices and beliefs. Although today’s Mormons are not as flamboyant or as contrary as Smith, their belief system is still based on the same neo-Gnostic premises: language can be changed to suit one’s needs, only the Mormon elect are privy to the secrets of the Temple (essentially reworked Masonic ceremonies), and only the very best men will eventually become gods of their own universes.

There is also the emphasis on individuality in Mormon rituals that stinks of gnosticism:

In comparing Mormon temple work with Catholic worship, this former temple patron observes differences. Chief among these is the purpose of the work. For the Mormon, temple work is undertaken as a means to advancement, for oneself or for a dead person. The central figure is the patron or the one for whom he is doing proxy work. . . In return for his proper performance, he is promised exaltation as a god while being symbolically introduced into this eternal delight by being taken by the hand and brought through a cloth veil into the celestial room, there to contemplate his eventual deification.

How different the liturgy or work of the people at Mass, the central act for all Catholics! Christ and his Father are the focus. The Lord is the center, the source and goal of worship. Imperfect, striving members come to the Eucharist, first confessing their sinfulness to God and one another. In this house of prayer for all people, voices are raised together in adoration of the one Lord. It is to his service alone that the congregation dedicates itself.

And of course, the ever-present complication with trying to combine gnosticism with Christianity - doublethink. A condition suffered by all of the unorthodox "scholars" cited in Ransom's post.

Mind Bullets.

"a liberating antidote to close-minded dogmatism"

This post is mostly for Qahal. I thought he should be alerted to this article. Qahal is more qualified to talk about the merits of these types of articles -- he once killed a heritic at 200 yards using nothing but mind-bullets. But I can at least point out the amusing pro-heretic language that the article.

First we start out with the requisite comparison between The Da Vinci Code and actual scholarship:

What does The Da Vinci Code have to do with a letter written by the archbishop of Alexandria in the year 367? As it turns out, quite a lot.

It's just fiction right? Funny how so many people consider it Gospel.* Then he talks about the struggle in the early church

"waged by self-styled correct believers against so-called heretics."

So-called heretics? Even if you take their side, they are still--by definition--heretics. Just because I don't like John Kerry doesn't mean I should refer to him as a "so-called" senator, implying that he is not actually a senator. The poor so-called heretics lost the battle (unjustly for sure), but luckily the moderns are more open than those bigots of the past:

Today, there are many scholars, theologians, and popular writers who promote the Gnostic perspective as a liberating antidote to close-minded dogmatism, but there are also many others who denounce it as a pernicious and destructive influence.

Those who disavow the liberating Gnostic perspective apparently only do it because of the danger it poses to their close-minded dogmatism. I would have guessed that some folks, especially those self-styled believers of the early Church, disavowed these heresies because they were false. Yes, that's right - the absurd view that there is one single Truth and people are actually seeking it. But it is clear that the idea of an absolute truth is absolutely not true:

Emory University biblical scholar Luke Timothy Johnson may be right in saying that a new Gnosticism once again "threatens the shape of Christian faith." But the return of Gnostic ideas has also contributed to a larger debate between progressives and traditionalists that goes beyond the strict concerns of one religious tradition.

Heresy does not threaten the shape of Christian faith. Jesus will still be co-eternal with God no matter how many Arian books and articles are written. Even when Winston Smith finally knew that two plus two equals five, two plus two still actually equalled four! And as far as Gnostic ideas contributing to the larger debate on faith, perhaps they do in some way -- the same way that NAMBLA contributes to the larger debate on the definition of a proper relationship.

To be fair, that is as much of the article as I have read. Perhaps it ends with a flourish of popery and right reason. One can hope . . . but then again, expecting good theology from the U.S. News and World report is probably a bit like supposing that those "facts" from The Da Vinci Code actually have some basis in reality.

_______________
*Actually, this is not that funny at all. In many ways fiction (pre-postmodern fiction, that is) is just as real as nonfiction (I don't have my copy of Technopoly handy, so I can't offer you some Postman brilliance on the topic). That said, The Da Vinci Code is a completly different story. No matter how well Dan Brown translates the Gospel of Phillip from Aramaic doesn't change the fact that it was written in Coptic.

Fundamental questions of the day

1. Are lawyers intellectuals?
Short Answer: No.

As Joseph Bottum says:

the practice of law precisely as a practice is not directly an intellectual’s activity, however intelligent one has to be to do it well. And plenty of lawyers do no work of the mind outside their practice. Still, I’ve always imagined that the law so closely parallels intellectuals’ activity—the work of philosophers, theologians, and literary critics—that there is an intellectual tendency that exists in the legal mind by its very nature.

Bottum is an intellectual and he must not hang around many lawyers to give them this much credit. A lawyer, like any worker, must accomplish tasks as part of his job--they can't bill hours when thinking for the sake of thinking. I don't think a general intellectual tendency exists beyond accomplishing the job that they must accomplish. The only difference between a lawyer and the average person is that lawyers are trained to believe that they know everything and to think that they are always right.

2. What are libraries for?
Libraries are especially important to the Ransom family. I plan on retiring early and living off the earnings of a librarian wife as soon as circumstances make it possible. Luckily, future librarian wife agrees with me on most things and will definitely agree with this article on how to run a library. Multiple copies of the Classics; everything else may stay if there is room. (And lots of Catholic books. You would not believe how poor the selection of Catholic books is at our public library. It is a shame.)

I can guarantee that future librarian wife will not allow computers to choose what remains on the shelves:

A software program developed by SirsiDynix, an Alabama-based library-technology company, informs librarians of which books are circulating and which ones aren't. If titles remain untouched for two years, they may be discarded--permanently.

The article also once again confirms the undeniable truth that technology ruins everything (now if I could only figure out how to blog without the internet).

The Limits of Science

At some point along any slippery slope, you must stop before you fall off the edge. So it goes with science as well. We are embarking on a dangerous road when science and technology are "good" per se, without any thought to the cost of such progress. Until now, I assumed that moderns would consider my view out of touch with reality, but I was a little frightened to learn how utterly liberal I have become. That is right, the far left has decided that extreme scientific progress may require a little caution now that the progress is hitting a little closer to home:

SCIENTISTS are conducting experiments to change the sexuality of “gay” sheep in a programme that critics fear could pave the way for breeding out homosexuality in humans.

. . .

It raises the prospect that pregnant women could one day be offered a treatment to reduce or eliminate the chance that their offspring will be homosexual. Experts say that, in theory, the “straightening” procedure on humans could be as simple as a hormone supplement for mothers-to-be, worn on the skin like an anti-smoking nicotine patch.

Quite a conundrum, don't you think? It is just one more choice in a pro-choice world. We can choose our babies' gender, hair color, eye color, and about everything else, why not their sexuality? What advocate of personal freedom, choice, individualism, etc., would not favor another option? Yet the outcry has begun:

Martina Navratilova, the lesbian tennis player who won Wimbledon nine times, and scientists and gay rights campaigners in Britain have called for the project to be abandoned.

Navratilova defended the “right” of sheep to be gay. She said: “How can it be that in the year 2006 a major university would host such homophobic and cruel experiments?” She said gay men and lesbians would be “deeply offended” by the social implications of the tests.

And if a professional athlete's defense of an animal's right to be gay doesn't convince you, then how about this one:

Peter Tatchell, the gay rights campaigner, said: “These experiments echo Nazi research in the early 1940s which aimed at eradicating homosexuality. They stink of eugenics. There is a danger that extreme homophobic regimes may try to use these experimental results to change the orientation of gay people.”

Mr. Tatchell gets extra points for adding one more to the tally in the ever-popular game of "Who isn't like Hitler?" (See earlier posts if you have missed the fun). All Nazi comparisons aside, the gay rights campaigner does get to the simplest, yet most important argument:

He said that the techniques being developed in sheep could in future allow parents to “play God”.

Well played, my worthy foe, and that is why I will stand with you arm-in-arm (in a purely platonic way, of course) against the science that will allow parents to choose whether their child is gay or straight. But then, why will you not stand with me against the science that allows a parent choose whether their child will live or die? How can a person's sex-life be more important than a person's life?