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Response to Claire V. McCusker

Claire V. McCusker’s treatment of Bodies: The Exhibition may be the best defense that can be constructed for it from within the Catholic moral tradition, but McCusker reaches her conclusions, I think, only by unwittingly departing from that tradition in important respects, both in her . . . . Continue Reading »

Response to Michael Linton

In a recent post , Michael Linton defends the Christian potential for works of art originally designed to offend and mock Christians. The idea is that the divine invasion of space and time in Jesus Christ is a pretty big shock to our otherworldly spiritual imaginations. The cross, as St. Paul . . . . Continue Reading »

Islam as a Religion of Peace

A friend has just sent me some photographs of a "peace" demonstration on the streets of London. It is, however, a "peace" demonstration with a difference and is most definitely not the sort of "peace" demonstration that my mind’s eye sees when it thinks of such . . . . Continue Reading »

Astonishing works

The Wall Street Journal to the rescue! Several readers have written me about my comments on Serrano’s photograph, so it was with some comfort that I read Christopher Levenick’s review of Philip Jenkins’ The New Faces of Christianity in yesterday’s Journal . "The Bible . . . . Continue Reading »

Same-sex marriage and Jon Rauch

I had wondered how politically savvy supporters of "gay marriage" would react to the recent statement entitled "Beyond Same-Sex Marriage," and how they would respond to my posting last week calling attention to the fact that the statement follows through on the logic of demands . . . . Continue Reading »

Blessing of peanut butter crackers

A reader writes in with this: I read the blog posting by Michael Novak of the “Beer Blessing,” which inspired me to write this blessing of peanut butter crackers (admittedly basing it upon the formula used in most blessings). It is as follows: All-powerful Father, bless these peanut . . . . Continue Reading »

“Bodies, the Exhibition”

I walk past on the way to work each morning: Bodies, the Exhibition. Or, at least, I walk past an advertisement for it, featuring a man carrying a football as if to avoid an oncoming linebacker. The arresting thing about it is that he is dead and hasn’t any skin. The exhibition has been in . . . . Continue Reading »

Ole Anthony and the Trinity Foundation

Over at his Crunchy Con blog, Rod Dreher links to an interesting investigative piece on the world of Ole Anthony, the ascetic Texan who runs a Christian commune called the Trinity Foundation in Dallas and serves as a self-appointed watchdog for the excesses of televangelists. Journalists tend to . . . . Continue Reading »

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