Into Great Silence

I thought immediately of the Carthusian monks when I saw today's Word of the Day. The 2005 film Into Great Silence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Into_Great_Silence) gave us a taste of their asceticism and the rhythms of their monastic life. 

It took a level of asceticism just to sit through this 162-minute cinematic tour de force.  Those who did could not help but emerge with a newfound appreciation for the Carthusians' simplicity, spirituality, and self-discipline. Interestingly enough, Buddhists and New Agers were as apt to be seduced by this "slow" film as traditional Catholics--proving, once again, that Truth knows no religious, cultural, racial, national, or socio-economic barriers. 

[This was sent to Anu Garg, in response to asceticism, the Word of the Day for Tuesday, April 21, 2015. Needless to say, Garg ignored it.]

Baseball & Liberty

Baseball, it has been said, holds the key to the American character. The Grand Old Game embodies communitarian and individualist impulses that made the country itself grand. Each player does good for this team by doing well for himself.

All nations, though, as wily old Ben Franklin himself warned, eventually succumb to tyranny. Nowadays, wealthy baseball team owners enlist the State to dragoon taxpayers into paying for their stadiums--and, in a mind-boggling display of chutzpah, expect hosannas for picking up the short end of their own tab!

Not so long ago, baseball could still lay claim to its exalted status. Natural grass, quirky stadiums (not the cookie-cutter monstrosities of today), and the pitcher's place in the batting order ensured the game's integrity and continuity with the past.

Not so long ago, undeclared war and diminishing civil liberties still sparked controversy and dissent. As goes baseball, alas, so goes the cause of American liberty.

Atheists Make Themselves in the Image of a God

You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do. -Anne Lamott, writer (b. 10 Apr 1954)

You can safely assume you've created yourself in the image of a god when it turns out you hate all the same people fellow atheists do. (For more on this, please see the French Revolution, Cristeros War, and Gulag Archipelago.)  ~Edgar J. Snarkenfarker (b. 6 Jun 1966)