St. Austin Review: Reclaiming Culture

Welcome to the Ink Desk

Enjoy the ponderings of the Star's contributors and add your own thoughts. As this section develops, we hope it may become a medium for an exchange of ideas among those who are working towards the cultural revival.

• February 3rd, 2012C.S. Lewis and Friendsby Joseph Pearce

  Further to my post about Shadowlands, I thought I'd share this e-mail just received from the organisers of an annual conference on C. S. Lewis and Friends, at which I've been privileged to speak in the past. Admirers of Lewis and Tolkien might want to consider attending.

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• February 3rd, 2012Secular Fundamentalism and Religious Freedomby Joseph Pearce

  Just received from Tony Ryan of Ignatius Press (see below).

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• February 2nd, 2012From the Red Devils to the Priesthoodby Joseph Pearce

  As an Englishman, I am passionate about football, i.e. soccer to those on the American side of the Pond. Ever since I was about seven-years-old, I've been a keen supporter of Chelsea, currently one of the best teams in Europe, though I've followed the team through the bad times when the team plumbed depths of ineptitude. One of Chelsea's biggest rivals are Manchester United, also known as the Red Devils, indicative no doubt of their infernal origins. In any event, I was greatly intrigued and encouraged to see that a former Manchester United player is now studying for the priesthood. It goes to show that there is life after death!

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• February 2nd, 2012Obama’s War on Religionby Paul Adams

  In the words of John Paul II (Veritatis Splendor, N. 101):

  Today, when many countries have seen the fall of ideologies which bound politics to a totalitarian conception of the world — Marxism being the foremost of these — there is no less grave a danger that the fundamental rights of the human person will be denied and that the religious yearnings which arise in the heart of every human being will be absorbed once again into politics.

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• February 2nd, 2012Their Last Communionby Fr. Simon Henry

  When is a Catholic not a Catholic? That is to say, just how far removed from the practice of the Church and from any ongoing relationship with the Church do you have to be before it can be said that you are no longer a Catholic? Included in this is the question of whether a person has any prayer life or relationship—daily, weekly, yearly—with the Lord. Of course, it's then said that we must not judge and many such lapsed may be living "good" lives but I think even with the most generous of interpretations, this could not be claimed of the present situation. Those that are lapsed are for the most part gone from prayer, from Christian living and from a Christian world-view—they follow the world on moral values and live their lives according to the norms of their neighbours rather than those of the Gospel.

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• February 1st, 2012A Grief Observedby Joseph Pearce

  Last night, having watched the episode of Sir Kenneth Clark's Civilisation, which was the subject of my previous post, I also watched the BBC adaptation of Shadowlands, starring Joss Ackland and Clare Bloom, as C. S. Lewis and Joy Gresham respectively. This version is so much the superior of the later Hollywood version, starring Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger, that the two do not even warrant serious comparison.

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• February 1st, 2012Mea Culpa ... But Not Maxima Culpaby Joseph Pearce

  I note that my less than ringing endorsement of Sir Kenneth Clark's Civilisation has caused a ripple of irritation in certain quarters. So be it. I stand by what I said. I would, however, like to confess an element of prejudice and presumption. Having made my judgment solely on the basis of the first six episodes that I had seen, and not on the remaining seven that I had not, I was prejudging the case before hearing all the evidence and presuming guilt on the basis of this incomplete evidence.

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• February 1st, 2012Thou Shall Use Canvas Bags – and Other Green Commandmentsby Lorraine V. Murray

  In the beginning there were paper bags. Shoppers used them without thinking much about it. Kids turned them into makeshift covers for school books.

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• February 1st, 2012Consequences Continue—and so Does the Silenceby Dena Hunt

  Pursuant to an earlier post a few days ago (“Why I’m Opposed to the Environment”), I am once again struck by the depth of my naivete. In this morning’s headlines, I discovered that the huge pink-ribbon charity for breast cancer research (the Komen Foundation) has been in partnership with Planned Parenthood all along. It turns out that donations made to breast cancer research have been going to Planned Parenthood in the form of grants.

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• February 1st, 2012Why American Don’t Do Darwinby Ed West

  Despite the economic collapse of our continent and a vaguely hysterical populist campaign against the bankers who helped to bankrupt our country, the British are still glued to the US presidential election, with Mitt Romney’s image rarely off most UK news sites’ home pages.

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• January 31st, 2012Faith at Work and Working the Faithby Kevin O'Brien

  Over the weekend, while driving to perform shows, my actress and I listened to audio recordings of EWTN's The Journey Home;, one of my favorite television shows, hosted by Marcus Grodi (whose novels I just recorded as audio books, but more on that in an upcoming post). 

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• January 31st, 2012Can’t We All Just Ignore This?by Dena Hunt

  The trouble with the Democratic religious persecution of Catholics (Be honest—it’s bigger than just Obama. It even includes Catholics—a lot of them) is that it’s so in-your-face now. When it started to become visible—I’d estimate that time to be during the presidential campaign of 2008—we could just say, “Hmm. That Chicago preacher is such a hateful man. We must pray for him.” And we convinced ourselves that, after all, Obama himself didn’t say those hateful things—he just attended the church, even as we nervously asked ourselves, “…but why did he attend it?” That priest who often spoke there—what was his name? Felcher? Fletcher? Whatever—was an item of greater concern because he was just so embarrassing, you know, with his adolescent posturing and his public acting out of his MLK-like fantasies of himself. And people in the Church hierarchy praised Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden—so we knew that it must be that we just don’t understand some things, the problem must be with us, not with them…. It’ll probably all work out, we said. After all, Notre Dame is giving him an honorary degree…. They wouldn’t do that if they didn’t know some things that we don’t know.

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• January 31st, 2012A New Aristocracy that Can Offend But Cannot Be Offendedby Joseph Pearce

  Yestrerday I posted a response to claims that Shakespeare was a homosexual. I've received a reply from my correspondent that I'm going to share, principally because of her perceptive description of the homosexual lobby as "a new aristocracy that is allowed to offend but cannot be offended". Brilliant! I would also refer anyone interested in putting this "new aristocracy" into biblical perspective to Kevin O'Brien's post on "the problem of love", posted yesterday. It's a superb, succinct and witty discussion of onanism in its various manifestations. Here's the text of my correspondent's e-mail:

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• January 30th, 2012“Gay History” and the “Pinking” of the Bardby Joseph Pearce

  I've just received an e-mail from someone concerned about claims that Shakespeare was a homosexual. My correspondent wrote that, at the place at which she teaches, "we are mired in Gay History Month and its anticipations, and references are being made to Shakespeare's Sonnet 20. I wondered if you could shed any light on this?"  

  Here's my response:

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• January 30th, 2012The Problem of Love and Frozen Banana Standsby Kevin O'Brien

  The problem is love.  What is the solution to the problem of love? Scripture shows us some solutions as offered by man since the fall.

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• January 27th, 2012Why I’m Opposed to the Environmentby Dena Hunt

  The “environmental movement” began back in the 60s. That generation was the largest and loudest in American history. “Boomers” were born during the post-war baby boom and raised by Dr. Spock never to hear the word “no” from parental lips. They reached puberty virtually en masse, and seeking a cause on which to focus the moral superiority characteristic of pubescence, they found what they called “the environment.” The cause of the environment was thus adopted—and nature was thereby lost.

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• January 27th, 2012Theology and Sanityby Joseph Pearce

  Continuing my recent foraging through the dusty recesses of my personal library, I pulled from the shelf Frank Sheed's Theology & Sanity. Browsing through its pages I was reminded once again of the richness and vigour of Sheed's apologetics and the way it epitomized the vibrant Catholic evangelism of the pre-Vatican II Church. Sheed is particularly strong in his imaginative use of analogy to make complex theological points. Here is but one example of many in this wonderful book:

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• January 27th, 2012Promoting social justiceby Paul Adams

  Trying to navigate the conceptual fog that envelops the concept of social justice, I just came across an interesting article,  "Social Justice, Institutions, and Communities," posted today on the Witherspoon Institute blog, Public Discourse: Ethics, Law and the Common Good by Adam J. MacLeod.  It concludes like this:

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• January 26th, 2012Sir Kenneth Clark’s Mindless Civilisationby Joseph Pearce

  My recent post on Clark's "Civilisation" was cut off half way through. This is the full version.

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• January 26th, 2012The Lord of Failureby Kevin O'Brien

  Think about this: the cross was a means of terrible, ignominious defeat. But this sign of defeat has become the means of victory. There is no defeat or worldy despair in which Christ is not present. He is the Lord of Failure.

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