America’s criminal justice system has been overhauled before and the results haven’t been so good, posted here, and this new attempt, as noted by the Huffington Post, based on a perspective that begins by seeing effective police work filling prisons as somehow bad, rather than the individual choices responsible for people becoming criminals, will probably suffer the same fate.
That being said, we always wish those who attempt to make things better with the criminal justice system, the very best, and our prayers are with this newest effort should it come into being.
An excerpt.
“America's criminal justice system is broken.
“How broken? The numbers are stark:
“• The United States has 5% of the world's population, yet possesses 25% of the world's prison population;
“• More than 2.38 million Americans are now in prison, and another 5 million remain on probation or parole. That amounts to 1 in every 31 adults in the United States is in prison, in jail, or on supervised release;
“• Incarcerated drug offenders have soared 1200% since 1980, up from 41,000 to 500,000 in 2008; and
“• 60% of offenders are arrested for non-violent offensives--many driven by mental illness or drug addiction.”
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
American Babylon
As a fan of Fr. Richard John Neuhaus I recently bought his last book, American Babylon, and am working my way through it, savoring his writing and thinking, so was very happy to see this review from George Weigel.
An excerpt.
“He was an amazingly prolific writer, but the late Father Richard John Neuhaus was also finicky about writing. He would personally review the galleys of each issue of First Things, the journal he founded, which was one reason the magazine was a pleasure to read: it was edited, and re-edited, and then edited again. But Richard was particularly finicky about his books. Last August, in what turned out to have been the last of our twenty-two summer vacations together, he sat in his cottage on the Ottawa River and, pounding away on his beloved MacBookPro, edited, and reworked, and then re-edited the book that is now his posthumous literary valedictory -- American Babylon: Notes of a Christian Exile (Basic Books).
“American Babylon is vintage Neuhaus, in several senses of the term. It deepens themes Richard had been exploring since Time Toward Home (1975) and The Naked Public Square (1984), especially the continually vexed question of Church-and-state. It includes perhaps his most developed reflection on the importance of living Judaism for Christianity. It takes up the cudgels in defense of life and sharply critiques the "immortality project" with which some scientists are obsessed.
“There is a notable chapter on Richard Rorty, one of the most influential of contemporary American philosophers, whose pragmatic case for democracy Neuhaus found perilously thin. And there is the final version of a famous lecture to which Richard gave the deliberately provocative title, "Can an Atheist Be a Good Citizen?" (Answer: Yes, but only accidentally.)
“Above all, and tying it all together, is Richard Neuhaus's profound conviction that this gloriously messy, often maddening, sometimes exhilarating business we call "living here and now" is time spent on the way to Somewhere Else -- "time toward home," as he called it in that earlier book, time toward the New Jerusalem, time toward life within the light and love of the Holy Trinity. Richard Neuhaus loved this life, as he loved New York City and as he loved America. Yet, above those loves and giving those loves meaning was his love of Christ and Christ's Church. For RJN was a radically converted Christian disciple who believed with the author of the Letter to the Hebrews that "here we have no lasting city," because everything about this city, about life here and now, is directed toward "the city which is to come" [Hebrews 13.14].”
An excerpt.
“He was an amazingly prolific writer, but the late Father Richard John Neuhaus was also finicky about writing. He would personally review the galleys of each issue of First Things, the journal he founded, which was one reason the magazine was a pleasure to read: it was edited, and re-edited, and then edited again. But Richard was particularly finicky about his books. Last August, in what turned out to have been the last of our twenty-two summer vacations together, he sat in his cottage on the Ottawa River and, pounding away on his beloved MacBookPro, edited, and reworked, and then re-edited the book that is now his posthumous literary valedictory -- American Babylon: Notes of a Christian Exile (Basic Books).
“American Babylon is vintage Neuhaus, in several senses of the term. It deepens themes Richard had been exploring since Time Toward Home (1975) and The Naked Public Square (1984), especially the continually vexed question of Church-and-state. It includes perhaps his most developed reflection on the importance of living Judaism for Christianity. It takes up the cudgels in defense of life and sharply critiques the "immortality project" with which some scientists are obsessed.
“There is a notable chapter on Richard Rorty, one of the most influential of contemporary American philosophers, whose pragmatic case for democracy Neuhaus found perilously thin. And there is the final version of a famous lecture to which Richard gave the deliberately provocative title, "Can an Atheist Be a Good Citizen?" (Answer: Yes, but only accidentally.)
“Above all, and tying it all together, is Richard Neuhaus's profound conviction that this gloriously messy, often maddening, sometimes exhilarating business we call "living here and now" is time spent on the way to Somewhere Else -- "time toward home," as he called it in that earlier book, time toward the New Jerusalem, time toward life within the light and love of the Holy Trinity. Richard Neuhaus loved this life, as he loved New York City and as he loved America. Yet, above those loves and giving those loves meaning was his love of Christ and Christ's Church. For RJN was a radically converted Christian disciple who believed with the author of the Letter to the Hebrews that "here we have no lasting city," because everything about this city, about life here and now, is directed toward "the city which is to come" [Hebrews 13.14].”
Friday, June 12, 2009
Secularism and the Church
As a follow-up to yesterday’s post where the power of secularism to render impotent the Post Vatican II generation of priests for whom walking the talk was no longer as important as talking the walk, and envisions an emerging Church where the balance is returning to the former; this article from Catholic Thing remarks on another aspect of that future.
An excerpt.
“This Christian world came to mind while reading the remarkable interview with the great French scholar, Rémi Brague, in his new book The Legend of the Middle Ages (University of Chicago, 2009). The interview is full of amazing things about Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and the modern age. I want to comment on the last point raised by the interviewer: “Why do you remain Christian?” Brague is amused – at the question itself.
“For Brague, the question presupposes that “Christians are a rearguard made up of people who haven’t caught on yet.” All is over for them. Only dullards do not know. In Europe, are the Christian churches “declining?” In fact, in Europe, Europeans are “declining” faster than Christians.
“Brague cites a 1944 essay of Benedetto Croce, “Why We Cannot Not Call Ourselves ‘Christians.’” The answer was that all that was worthwhile in Christianity is now found in modern secularism. To deny secularism is to deny its Christian roots. But modern secularism also eliminated things intrinsic to Christianity, like, among other things, the Incarnation and some of the Ten Commandments.”
An excerpt.
“This Christian world came to mind while reading the remarkable interview with the great French scholar, Rémi Brague, in his new book The Legend of the Middle Ages (University of Chicago, 2009). The interview is full of amazing things about Islam, Judaism, Christianity, and the modern age. I want to comment on the last point raised by the interviewer: “Why do you remain Christian?” Brague is amused – at the question itself.
“For Brague, the question presupposes that “Christians are a rearguard made up of people who haven’t caught on yet.” All is over for them. Only dullards do not know. In Europe, are the Christian churches “declining?” In fact, in Europe, Europeans are “declining” faster than Christians.
“Brague cites a 1944 essay of Benedetto Croce, “Why We Cannot Not Call Ourselves ‘Christians.’” The answer was that all that was worthwhile in Christianity is now found in modern secularism. To deny secularism is to deny its Christian roots. But modern secularism also eliminated things intrinsic to Christianity, like, among other things, the Incarnation and some of the Ten Commandments.”
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Special Year for Priests
Tomorrow begins the special Priestly Year called by Pope Benedict XVI, and as, for most of the faithful, the primary relationship with the Church comes through her priests, it is crucial they be able to provide us with dogmatic guidance and constancy of teaching from the heart of the Church, and that has not always been the case, especially over the past several decades.
In this article from Chiesa, an introduction to a recent speech by the Secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education, Archbishop Jean-Loius Bruges, sets the tone.
An excerpt.
“Archbishop Bruguès, 66, a Dominican, was bishop of Angers until 2007. In addition to being secretary of the congregation for Catholic education, he is vice president of the pontifical work for ecclesiastical vocations and a member of the commission for the formation of candidates for the priesthood. He is also an academic at the St. Thomas Aquinas pontifical academy.
“His speech to seminary rectors doesn't use any curial language at all. It is unusually frank. In no uncertain terms, it describes and denounces the failures following the council, in Europe in particular, including the astonishing ignorance on elementary points of doctrine that is found today in young men entering the seminary.
“This ignorance is so significant that one of the remedies recommended by Archbishop Bruguès is the dedication of an entire year at the seminary to the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
“The Catechism "ad parochos" was another of the milestones of the Tridentine reform. Four centuries later, we're there again.
“Here is the speech of the secretary of the congregation for Catholic education to the rectors of the pontifical seminaries, published by "L'Osservatore Romano" on June 3, 2009:
“Formation for the priesthood, between secularism and models of the Church
“by Jean-Louis Bruguès
“It is always risky to explain a social situation on the basis of a single interpretation. Nonetheless, some keys open more doors than others do. I have long been convinced of the fact that secularization has become a key word for thinking about our societies today, but also about our Church.
“Secularization represents a historical process that is very old, having emerged in France in the middle of the 18th century before spreading to all modern societies. Nevertheless, the secularization of society varies greatly from one country to another.
“In France and Belgium, for example, it tends to prohibit signs of religious membership in public, and to push faith back into the private sphere. The same tendency can be seen, but with much less strength, in Spain, Portugal, and Great Britain. In the United States, however, secularization harmonizes easily with the public expression of religious convictions: we saw this also during the last presidential election.
“Over the past decade, an extremely interesting discussion has emerged among the specialists. Until it began, it seemed that it had to be taken for granted that European-style secularization constituted the rule and model, while the American kind constituted the exception. Now, however, there are many - Jürgen Habermas, for example - who think that the opposite is true, and that the religions will play a new social role in postmodern Europe as well.”
In this article from Chiesa, an introduction to a recent speech by the Secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education, Archbishop Jean-Loius Bruges, sets the tone.
An excerpt.
“Archbishop Bruguès, 66, a Dominican, was bishop of Angers until 2007. In addition to being secretary of the congregation for Catholic education, he is vice president of the pontifical work for ecclesiastical vocations and a member of the commission for the formation of candidates for the priesthood. He is also an academic at the St. Thomas Aquinas pontifical academy.
“His speech to seminary rectors doesn't use any curial language at all. It is unusually frank. In no uncertain terms, it describes and denounces the failures following the council, in Europe in particular, including the astonishing ignorance on elementary points of doctrine that is found today in young men entering the seminary.
“This ignorance is so significant that one of the remedies recommended by Archbishop Bruguès is the dedication of an entire year at the seminary to the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
“The Catechism "ad parochos" was another of the milestones of the Tridentine reform. Four centuries later, we're there again.
“Here is the speech of the secretary of the congregation for Catholic education to the rectors of the pontifical seminaries, published by "L'Osservatore Romano" on June 3, 2009:
“Formation for the priesthood, between secularism and models of the Church
“by Jean-Louis Bruguès
“It is always risky to explain a social situation on the basis of a single interpretation. Nonetheless, some keys open more doors than others do. I have long been convinced of the fact that secularization has become a key word for thinking about our societies today, but also about our Church.
“Secularization represents a historical process that is very old, having emerged in France in the middle of the 18th century before spreading to all modern societies. Nevertheless, the secularization of society varies greatly from one country to another.
“In France and Belgium, for example, it tends to prohibit signs of religious membership in public, and to push faith back into the private sphere. The same tendency can be seen, but with much less strength, in Spain, Portugal, and Great Britain. In the United States, however, secularization harmonizes easily with the public expression of religious convictions: we saw this also during the last presidential election.
“Over the past decade, an extremely interesting discussion has emerged among the specialists. Until it began, it seemed that it had to be taken for granted that European-style secularization constituted the rule and model, while the American kind constituted the exception. Now, however, there are many - Jürgen Habermas, for example - who think that the opposite is true, and that the religions will play a new social role in postmodern Europe as well.”
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Identity Thinking
Though identity thinking is certainly a central part of our work—as we believe that it takes a reformed criminal to reform criminals—identity thinking is not all good in all areas; however, in terms of understanding a certain perspective and analyzing it for clues to behavior and possible transformative action, it can be very helpful.
An example is this recent column from the Wall Street Journal about post-racial politics, which could only have been written by a member of the same race as its protagonist.
An excerpt.
“President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court points to a dilemma that will likely plague his presidency: How does a "post-racialist" president play identity politics?
“What is most notable about the Sotomayor nomination is its almost perfect predictability. Somehow we all simply know -- like it or not -- that Hispanics are now overdue for the gravitas of high office. And our new post-racialist president is especially attuned to this chance to have a "first" under his belt, not to mention the chance to further secure the Hispanic vote. And yet it was precisely the American longing for post-racialism -- relief from this sort of racial calculating -- that lifted Mr. Obama into office.
“The Sotomayor nomination commits the cardinal sin of identity politics: It seeks to elevate people more for the political currency of their gender and ethnicity than for their individual merit. (Here, too, is the ugly faithlessness in minority merit that always underlies such maneuverings.) Mr. Obama is promising one thing and practicing another, using his interracial background to suggest an America delivered from racial corruption even as he practices a crude form of racial patronage. From America's first black president, and a man promising the "new," we get a Supreme Court nomination that is both unoriginal and hackneyed.”
An example is this recent column from the Wall Street Journal about post-racial politics, which could only have been written by a member of the same race as its protagonist.
An excerpt.
“President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court points to a dilemma that will likely plague his presidency: How does a "post-racialist" president play identity politics?
“What is most notable about the Sotomayor nomination is its almost perfect predictability. Somehow we all simply know -- like it or not -- that Hispanics are now overdue for the gravitas of high office. And our new post-racialist president is especially attuned to this chance to have a "first" under his belt, not to mention the chance to further secure the Hispanic vote. And yet it was precisely the American longing for post-racialism -- relief from this sort of racial calculating -- that lifted Mr. Obama into office.
“The Sotomayor nomination commits the cardinal sin of identity politics: It seeks to elevate people more for the political currency of their gender and ethnicity than for their individual merit. (Here, too, is the ugly faithlessness in minority merit that always underlies such maneuverings.) Mr. Obama is promising one thing and practicing another, using his interracial background to suggest an America delivered from racial corruption even as he practices a crude form of racial patronage. From America's first black president, and a man promising the "new," we get a Supreme Court nomination that is both unoriginal and hackneyed.”
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
More Catholics in US
There are 1 million new Catholics in the US Church, according to this report from the Catholic News Service.
An excerpt.
“Washington D.C., Jun 5, 2009 / 02:57 am (CNA).- The 2009 Official Catholic Directory has released new statistics on the Catholic population. The directory shows that there are 68.1 million Catholics in the United States, an increase of about one million from the previous year which maintains Catholics as 22 percent of the U.S. population.
“The directory, also known as the Kenedy Directory, reports that there are 41,489 diocesan and religious order priests, 60,715 religious sisters, 4,905 religious brothers and 16,935 permanent deacons. In 2008 there were 887,145 infant baptisms, 42,629 adult baptisms, and 81,775 baptized Christians who entered full communion with the Church. The Kenedy Directory lists 18,674 parishes, including 91 new parishes, and 189 seminaries with 4,973 students.”
An excerpt.
“Washington D.C., Jun 5, 2009 / 02:57 am (CNA).- The 2009 Official Catholic Directory has released new statistics on the Catholic population. The directory shows that there are 68.1 million Catholics in the United States, an increase of about one million from the previous year which maintains Catholics as 22 percent of the U.S. population.
“The directory, also known as the Kenedy Directory, reports that there are 41,489 diocesan and religious order priests, 60,715 religious sisters, 4,905 religious brothers and 16,935 permanent deacons. In 2008 there were 887,145 infant baptisms, 42,629 adult baptisms, and 81,775 baptized Christians who entered full communion with the Church. The Kenedy Directory lists 18,674 parishes, including 91 new parishes, and 189 seminaries with 4,973 students.”
Monday, June 8, 2009
The Lord & The Trinity
Yesterday was Trinity Sunday and last night I came across this paragraph in the most wonderful book, The Lord, by Romano Guardini:
“Jesus’ every act is governed by the Father; hence the Spirit (through which the Lord was conceived and made man) is always with him, for it is the bond of love uniting Father and Son. Yet we read that the Holy Spirit “comes” over Jesus, just as one day, sent forth from the Father, it will come over all whom Jesus calls his own. The intellect cannot cope with such paradoxes, though it somehow senses the reality beyond all reality, the truth beyond all truth. Precisely here lies the danger. The mind must never allow itself to be misled into seeming ‘comprehension,’ into facile sensations or phrases with nothing solid behind them. The whole problem is a mystery, the sacred mystery of the relationship of the triune God to his incarnate Son. We can never penetrate it, and knowledge of this incapacity must dominate our every thought and statement concerning Jesus’ life.” (p. 27)
“Jesus’ every act is governed by the Father; hence the Spirit (through which the Lord was conceived and made man) is always with him, for it is the bond of love uniting Father and Son. Yet we read that the Holy Spirit “comes” over Jesus, just as one day, sent forth from the Father, it will come over all whom Jesus calls his own. The intellect cannot cope with such paradoxes, though it somehow senses the reality beyond all reality, the truth beyond all truth. Precisely here lies the danger. The mind must never allow itself to be misled into seeming ‘comprehension,’ into facile sensations or phrases with nothing solid behind them. The whole problem is a mystery, the sacred mystery of the relationship of the triune God to his incarnate Son. We can never penetrate it, and knowledge of this incapacity must dominate our every thought and statement concerning Jesus’ life.” (p. 27)
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