Distinctly Catholic

Watching the Glenn Beck rally on the Mall, Mr. Beck has proven true to his word. The rally is not political if by political one means partisan. Every moment, every speech, every song has a feel good, I Love America, quality to it. A phrase, slightly modified from the original, fills my mind: The Banality of Goodness.

Who doesn’t honor our troops? Who doesn’t admire Albert Pujols and his work with Down Syndrome children? Who doesn’t think honor is better than dishonor? Who doesn’t think family is important? Who is opposed to charity? The only thing missing as far as I can tell is the tribute to apple pie.

We close out this week of hearing from young theologians with commentary from Michael Peppard, Assistant Professor of Theology at Fordham University and one of the founders of the Fordham Conversation Project.

The question: From your perspective as a young theologian teaching in a Catholic university, how do you view the divisions in the American Catholic Church? Do you see things differently than the previous generation? Are there any signs of hope for healing our divisions?

Professor Peppard: In my experience as an educator of Catholics at the high school, undergraduate, and graduate level, I can testify that I have hardly ever seen bitter, irreconcilable theological divisions among my students. For the most part, they are faithful, open-minded, and charitable in their disagreements. That’s the good news from where I stand. I’ll get to the bad news in a moment.

A great piece of reporting and analysis from Jeanne Devon at "The Mudflats" blog. Turns out that my prediction yesterday that the general electorate that will vote in Alaska in November might not be as fond of Miller as was the plurality of GOP voters who apparently put him over the top Tuesday.
(H/T to Jonathan Chait of TNR)

Michelle Boorstein, in this morning’s Washington Post, has an important article about the way some activists and politicians have turned “sharia” into a slur. Earlier, I noted that Newt Gingrich had given a speech at the American Enterprise Institute in which he warned about “the problem of creeping sharia.”

Of course, we all join in prayers for the repose of the soul of Sr. Mary Campbell who was killed in car crsh in Los Angeles that also resulted in serious injuries to Doug Kmiec, U.S. Ambassador to Malta and longtime Catholic scholar, and Msgr. John Sheridan, former pastor at Our Lady of Malibu where Sr. Campbell worked and Kmiec worshipped.

But, please keep Doug's family in your prayers too. Almost four years to the day, my parents were in a terrible car accident which almost killed them both that day and from which my mother never recovered. It is an intensely painful experience, waiting outside the operating room, then the ICU, not knowing whether you dare run home to shower and change lest your loved ones take a turn for the worse, looking at your loved ones and friends who have come to comfort you but not knowing what to say, listening to doctors explain complicated procedures that sound dreadful, praying. There are medications to alleviate the pain of those in the accident, but none for their loved ones who stand vigil. So, say a prayer for Doug's beloved wife Carolyn and his beautiful children.