Afternoon Links — 11.2.10

Father George Rutler’s reflection on All Saints and All Souls Days , and the fact that “A culture of death does not make the transition from All Hallows Eve to All Hallows Day,” much less to All Souls day.

A mainlander teaches in Hawaii reflects on the pitfalls and surprises of multiculturalism , from his own experience and that of a couple whose wedding vows made in the Maldives were actually insults and obscenities.

A Canadian ethicist reflects on the new movie Never Let Me Go , and what it says about the “dystopic and unethical example of a rapidly developing field called ‘regenerative medicine’.” (Warning: the lead gives away the novel and movie’s twist.)

A nun reports that American convents have more nuns over ninety than under sixty . Speaking to Kathryn Jean Lopez, she notes that “those congregations that follow a more traditional style of religious life seem to have the greatest success in attracting and retaining new members, especially younger candidates.”

An apparently secular writer explains why she believes in ghosts and describes her experiences of the apparently ghostly.

Theodore Dalrymple reflects not on the  problem of evil but on the problem of good . (It’s an older article, but I didn’t see it and I’m a great fan of his, so I pass it along.)

Justice Antonin Scalia urges  lawyers to be “fools for Christ’s sake” and suggests that nonbelievers don’t like to deal with the evidence.

Reuven Brenner (a contributor to First Things ) argues for anchoring the dollar to gold .

Ms. magazine (yes, it still exists) complains that there aren’t enough female “new atheists” .

Salon.com reports on nine “creative” ways to deal with someone’s “cremains” .

CatholicCulture.org reports that three new presidents of Jesuit universities contributed to “pro-choice” candidates .

John Judis explains why liberals are too dismissive of the Tea Party movement, while Michael Kazin explains why Jon Stewart isn’t what liberalism needs .

Thanks to MercatorNet and Matt Archbold for links.