Welcome to Distinctly Catholic, a blog by Michael Sean Winters that examines politics, religion and the estuary where the two meet, all from a distinctively Catholic point of view. The blog is small "c" catholic as well as big "C" Catholic, examining a wide range of issues but always from the perspective of Catholic history and theology.
The International Theological Commission issued a new document yesterday entitled “Theology Today: Perspectives, Principles and Criteria.” I scanned the text yesterday, and I liked what I was reading. As a reality check, I emailed a friend who, unlike me, is a theologian and asked what he thought of the text. “Good stuff!” he replied, and indeed it is. I woke up early this AM to re-read it, and I like it even better on the second reading.
No, not THAT Tablet. In a post at Vox Nova, Morning's Minion takes on a recent editorial in the Brooklyn Tablet, the diocesan newspaper, not to be confused with the international Catholic weekly based in London.
I had already called attention the editorial - especially the odd fact that it refers readers to the website of the Heritage Foundation but not, say, to Rerum Novarum, Gaudium et Spes or Caritas in Veritate! Minion goes further and does the heavy lifting, pointing out that this was written by someone with little or no knowledge of Catholic social teaching.
I received one of those mass emails this morning from the Obama campaign, but this one had a difference: It was in Spanish. Unsurprisingly, the Obama campaign has begun what must be for them the enjoyable task of reminding Latinos of all the nasty things Mr. Romney has said about Justice Sonia Sotomayor, immigration reform, the Dream Act, and other issues of importance to Latinos. Here is the text:
Michael --
Quer'a que supieras que el último ataque de la campaña de Romney fue en contra de la Jueza Sotomayor.
La Jueza Sonia Sotomayor es un orgullo para nuestra comunidad, pero Romney publicó anuncios de radio y televisión que critican a Rick Santorum por apoyar su confirmación para una corte inferior en 1998.
Tal vez Romney no reconoce que a lo largo de su carrera judicial, la Jueza Sotomayor ha recibido un fuerte apoyo bipartidista por su experiencia judicial, su inteligencia, su apego a nuestra Constitución, y su buen juicio. No cabe duda que ella merece ser Jueza de la Corte Suprema de la Nación.
The rising tide of anti-Muslim bigotry has reached the floor of the Florida state legislature, which is considering a new law that would bar state courts from considering any "foreign law, legal code or system" in arbitrations in family court, and divorce proceedings. This bill is targeted at Sharia law but Jewish leaders are also worried that it would bar settlements that use beit din in Orthodox Jewish divorce settlements.
St. Augustine is credited with the saying that he who sings prays twice. So, I suspect we will have a quadruplet of orations when the Sistine Chapel Choir joins with the choir of Westminster Abbey at vespers and Masses this summertime in Rome. How fitting that the Abbey Church dedicated to St. Peter will be sending its choir to the See of Peter.
You could see this coming. After he returned from his State visit to the UK, Pope Benedict XVI was reported to have been exceedingly moved by the prayer service at Westminster Abbey, and especially by the extraordinary music. And what was not to love? Here, as a refresher, the Westminster choir and congregation sing Purcell's "Christ is Made the Sure Foundation" as the Holy Father processed up the nave. (Note that the Anglican clergy know all the words!)
Yesterday, I mentioned that some pundits on the right have been comparing the current GOP nominating contest to the 2008 primary fight between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. The longer than usual contest in 2008 – recall that Clinton did not concede until after all the primaries! – turned out to actually help Obama: He had an organization in all 50 states, he had introduced himself to voters, and, importantly, as the first African-American candidate with a real chance at winning, he made his a familiar face.
We have witnessed the power of social media with the Arab Spring. Now, a new Youtube video wants to harness the power of social media to make Ugandan guerilla leader Joseph Kony the most famous man in the world, not to honor him but to call attention to the atrocities he has committed and get him arrested. The video is a half hour long, and once you start you will not be able to start. But, take the time. You will not regret doing so.
Ruy Teixeira has a very informative and smart article up at TNR about "Independent" voters and the myths that surround them. I confess that I have used the term sloppily in the past when a better designation might be "swing voters." But whatever we call them, they are decisive come election time and, as Teixeira demonstrates, part of the political challenge facing the country is that there is no real way for these swing voters to effectively bring about a less partisan, more deal-making political moment.
Most everyone was watching the GOP primary in Ohio, but pro-life Democrats who care about the unborn, the undocumented, and unions can celebrate the fact that Cong. Marcy Kaptur beat Cong. Dennis Kucinich in a newly configured district that placed the two Dems in a primary fight. At last count, with 84 percent of the precincts reporting, Kaptur had a 24-point win, which is about as decisive as it gets. Kucinich not only abandoned his pro-life position, he became one of the whiniest members of Congress who did much harm to the causes he championed with his antics, his Limbaugh-quality rhetoric, and his puerile policy stances. Those who seek purity in politicians love politicians like Kucinich, but I just see the flipside of Santorum. Give me a sane centrist like Kaptur any day of the week.
What rough beast, its hour come round at least, slouches towards Tampa to be nominated?
Mitt Romney’s win in Ohio last night was by the slimmest of margins. With 99.8 percent of precincts reporting, he captured 38 percent of the vote to Rick Santorum’s 37 percent, taking only 12,000 more votes than the former senator out of more than one million votes cast. To achieve his victory, Romney had to follow a method that has worked well in other states: Outspend your rival, in Ohio four-to-one, with heavily negative advertising.
This strategy works, but it has two downsides. First, by angering his opponents, he makes it less likely they will drop out of the race. Santorum and Gingrich, in their speeches last night, complained about Romney’s spending and cast themselves as David’s to his Wall Street-backed Goliath. Santorum and Gingrich both know that if they had not been outspent by such a large margin, they would have won states they have now lost. This does not make them more likely to step aside to allow Romney to begin his pivot to the general election any earlier.
Sign up to get NCR updates by email. Existing users: change your preferences here. Enter your email address in the box below and click “Go.”
Not all of our content is online. Subscribe to receive all the news and features you won't find anywhere else.
