Vox Nova & the Challenge of the RC Blogosphere

Over at Vox Nova, Morning's Minion looks at the genesis and development of that blog, and confronts a principal challenge we ace in the Catholic blogosphere, especially for those of us on the left-of-center. In objecting to the acrimony caused by the wedding of orthodox Catholicism with a crimped, Republican orthodoxy, we have had to engage in some acrimony of our own. I would prefer everyone engaged in consistent arguments, rooted in the teachings of the Church, not minimizing those that make their side of the political spectrum uncomfortable. But, as MM concludes: "as long as people like George Weigel continue making indefensible and inconsistent arguments, somebody needs to keep countering them!" I think the challenge for those of us who have been duking it out with Weigel et al over the years is to aspire to greater charity than he exhibited to us, praising them when they say something good even if they never throw a bone our way. And, we need to be fearless in calling out our political partners whose views conflict with the humane vision of the common good the Church presents. But, the discussions must go on, with or without acrimony not least because the problems are deeper than the RC neo-con project. Americans of all political stripes too readily adopt a classically privatized, Protestant understanding of the relationship of religion to politics, society and even to knowledge. And, one last thought - the Catholic blogosphere is a lot better than it would be if Vox Nova were not around.