"An emperor should not abolish liberty, even in the case of those who owe him a military obedience. The difference between good and bad rulers is that the good love freedom, the bad slavery."
Friday, July 11, 2008
St. Ambrose on liberty
A wonderful quote from one of the great Fathers of the Church, St. Ambrose of Milan:
Sorry for the long hiatus!
I've been heavily preoccupied with other affairs at the moment. Hopefully I'll be able to get this blog finally off the ground. If may notice some new links. I may need to organize them a bit more.
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Belloc on our Christian heritage
Here's an interesting quote of Belloc's that I found at Eyes of Faith:
"I desire you to remember that we are Europe; we are a great people. The faith is not an accident among us, nor an imposition, nor a garment; it is bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh; it is a philosophy made by and making ourselves. We have adorned, explained, enlarged it; we have given it visible form. This is the service we Europeans have done to God. In return He has made us Christians."Thank for Fr. Larry for providing this.
--An Open Letter on the Decay of Faith, 1906
Friday, March 28, 2008
The Dangers of Exaggerated Truth
G.K. Chesterton famous noted that a heresy was not so much an untruth, but an exaggerated truth.
I wish to make another twist to that observation and argue that overall an exaggerated truth is far more dangerous than an untruth. Why is that so? With an untruth, you can just reply to it with the truth - plain and simple.
With an exaggerated truth, however, one must first concede to the fact that is indeed true on some level, but just not true in the right proportions. To which then one is obligated to present what exactly is the truth in rightful proportions. This can become a very messy business if one does not tread carefully.
Today we are constantly bombarbed with all sorts of abstract concepts like "equality", "freedom", "diversity", "humanity", "choice", and so on. Not that there is anything wrong with these concepts per se, but they must be addressed on a more reasonable concrete level, which among other things means acknowledging their limits. Only then do they have any significant meaning at all.
There's this delusion that the more a truth is exaggerated, the more it becomes true. "More is better!" as the saying goes.
A simple journey into the realm of common sense shows this is not so. Sure, drinking beer can be a rather lively experience; but drinking too much will cause severe health problems or even death!
Sugar is indeed sweet, but too much of it rots your teeth.
Just some random food for thought.
I wish to make another twist to that observation and argue that overall an exaggerated truth is far more dangerous than an untruth. Why is that so? With an untruth, you can just reply to it with the truth - plain and simple.
With an exaggerated truth, however, one must first concede to the fact that is indeed true on some level, but just not true in the right proportions. To which then one is obligated to present what exactly is the truth in rightful proportions. This can become a very messy business if one does not tread carefully.
Today we are constantly bombarbed with all sorts of abstract concepts like "equality", "freedom", "diversity", "humanity", "choice", and so on. Not that there is anything wrong with these concepts per se, but they must be addressed on a more reasonable concrete level, which among other things means acknowledging their limits. Only then do they have any significant meaning at all.
There's this delusion that the more a truth is exaggerated, the more it becomes true. "More is better!" as the saying goes.
A simple journey into the realm of common sense shows this is not so. Sure, drinking beer can be a rather lively experience; but drinking too much will cause severe health problems or even death!
Sugar is indeed sweet, but too much of it rots your teeth.
Just some random food for thought.
Christendom: Past and Future?
Hilaire Belloc made the famous argument that "Europe will return to the Faith, or she will perish. The Faith is Europe. And Europe is the Faith."
He made these remarks within his famous book summarising the important role that the Christian faith played in the rise and development of Western civilization as we know it. This point has also been recently reiterated by Thomas E. Woods, Jr. in How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization.
There's little doubt about the important role of Christendom in the past. Yet the question remains, what important role, if any, does it play for the future?
I must say, James P. Pinkerton provides a rather interesting answer in "The Once & Future Christendom: From death of the West—to knights of the West".
It'd would not be wise for us to simply lament about the passing of the old Christendom. Rather we should be inspired by its example to help forge a new Christendom for our era. There will certainly be significant differences between the once and the future Christendoms; the latter will be built on a basis of continuity with the former.
We should look to history for guidance and inspiration. But rather than be nostalgic (which gets us nowhere), we should look to the past for a foundation from which to move into the future. Rather than try to imitate the past, we should seek to creatively rediscover it. Pope John Paul II himself stated that true fidelity to tradition is creative, not imitative.
I'm neither optimistic nor pessimistic, rather I'm hopeful for the future. Let the new day dawn!
He made these remarks within his famous book summarising the important role that the Christian faith played in the rise and development of Western civilization as we know it. This point has also been recently reiterated by Thomas E. Woods, Jr. in How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization.
There's little doubt about the important role of Christendom in the past. Yet the question remains, what important role, if any, does it play for the future?
I must say, James P. Pinkerton provides a rather interesting answer in "The Once & Future Christendom: From death of the West—to knights of the West".
It'd would not be wise for us to simply lament about the passing of the old Christendom. Rather we should be inspired by its example to help forge a new Christendom for our era. There will certainly be significant differences between the once and the future Christendoms; the latter will be built on a basis of continuity with the former.
We should look to history for guidance and inspiration. But rather than be nostalgic (which gets us nowhere), we should look to the past for a foundation from which to move into the future. Rather than try to imitate the past, we should seek to creatively rediscover it. Pope John Paul II himself stated that true fidelity to tradition is creative, not imitative.
I'm neither optimistic nor pessimistic, rather I'm hopeful for the future. Let the new day dawn!
Welcome to Old Thunder
This is the introduction post to Old Thunder, a blog which will explore the various implications and interrelation of social, political, and spiritual issues effecting the current age - in the legacy of the great 20th century English writer Hilaire Belloc - whose very nickname was "Old Thunder".
Sadly Mr. Belloc is not as well known as he should be today. His close friend G.K. Chesterton has been more fortunate, in the sense there are literally countless people keeping alive his memory in books, websites, blogs, and even a tv series on EWTN which just recently entered into a new season. I personally feel more should be done to keep alive the memory of Hilaire Belloc, who in many ways was a profound influence upon Chesterton himself.
Although sadly, Belloc is not alone in having his memory wrongfully forgotten. There are countless other Catholic writers who join ranks with "Old Thunder". Another example I know is that of Charles Peguy, a French writer who bore much resemblance to Belloc in many ways.
Hopefully, this blog will help get alive not only Belloc's memory, but even his spirit.
Sadly Mr. Belloc is not as well known as he should be today. His close friend G.K. Chesterton has been more fortunate, in the sense there are literally countless people keeping alive his memory in books, websites, blogs, and even a tv series on EWTN which just recently entered into a new season. I personally feel more should be done to keep alive the memory of Hilaire Belloc, who in many ways was a profound influence upon Chesterton himself.
Although sadly, Belloc is not alone in having his memory wrongfully forgotten. There are countless other Catholic writers who join ranks with "Old Thunder". Another example I know is that of Charles Peguy, a French writer who bore much resemblance to Belloc in many ways.
Hopefully, this blog will help get alive not only Belloc's memory, but even his spirit.
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