blood and faith

The Man of Sorrows in the Arms of the Virgin, by Hans Memling, fifteenth century.

Yesterday I was teaching a section on women mystics of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and I decided to read a passage on Angela of Foligno from Caroline Walker Bynum's fascinating book Holy Feast and Holy Fast: The Religious Significance of Food to Medieval Women. It is true that I picked some particularly provocative images, but I wanted my students to get a sense of how intense and intensely physical these ideas were:

Angela repeatedly referred to Christ as "our food" and "our table," and in a vision saw him put the friars of Foligno, her "sons" into his side, whence they emerged with lips rosy from drinking blood. On another occasion Christ appeared to her all bleeding and gave his wound to suck...

The students were shocked, but in the context of the class, most of them understood what I was trying to demonstrate: that these visions were a way for women, whose Eucharistic devotion was always mediated by male clergy, to experience the truths of the Eucharist in a startling literal and physical way. The physicality that we find so disturbing made sense in the context of their particular spirituality, and in the general spirituality of the time.

One student, however, was horrified and refused to see the vision as anything but pathological. She said that it was the result of women being cloistered to the point of becoming morbid, and that no woman who had lived in the world would have a vision of this type (Angela was a wife and mother before becoming a third order Franciscan, and was never cloistered). Other students argued with her that in the context of Eucharistic piety, the visions, although intense, made sense. The student, however, insisted that it was unhealthy, and eventually she extended her feelings to the general idea of the Eucharist. It was based on bloody sacrifice, she felt, and society needed to get beyond it to be healthy. The idea of eating Christ's body and drinking his blood was nothing short of vampiric, and came from ancient pagan and barbarian roots.

I hope I have presented her arguments faithfully. I don't agree with her, but I think those of us who do believe in the Eucharist should think about both Angelina's intense physical literalism and my student's reaction against it. This is especially true as Holy Week approaches and we commemorate the Passion of Christ. It is very easy to forget the import of what we are doing. God made man and tortured to death. The intermixing of God's flesh and ours through the intimate act of eating (whether you believe this is done literally or symbolically, it is still an extremely provocative idea).

Do we need sacrifice? Do we need blood? I think that it would be very naive to see this world, with all its violence and brutality, as a world that does not need to be healed. My student would say that the very idea of sacrifice perpetuates brutality. What if, however, everything could be reversed? If God, instead of demanding a lamb for bloody sacrifice, was that lamb? If God suffered in the flesh -- the warm, bloody, flesh -- what is to be suffered in this world? What does the cross mean? I think the profundity of all this demands no less than the most powerful, physical, and intimate of religious experience.

Angus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi, miserere nobis.

death and taxes

The execution of Saul, from the twelfth- century abbey at Vezelay. This is what I think will happen to me if I made a mistake on my taxes.

Another year, the inevitable nervous breakdown. I don't mind my money going to taxes, although I hate that my earnings will subsidize Halliburton when large corporations are given tax break after tax break. No, I would gladly pay more taxes if that meant universal health care, good education and justice for all my fellow citizens. It's the process of paying taxes that ruins my health and peace of mind. I have a terrible fear that I will by mistake say that I earned 56 cents of interest on my savings account instead of 58. The same night, a SWAT team will break through my window and cart me off to a gulag somewhere in North Dakota where I will be kept and destroyed until one day I am freed, broken and empty, sitting on a park bench somewhere telling myself I love Big Brother.

I know things don't work this way. Is there an identified pathology that describes someone who breaks into a panic whenever he or she sniffs official paperwork?

O IRS! Take my money. Leave my sanity alone.

Feast of St Isidore of Seville

St Idisore of Seville, from the beautiful twelfth-century Aberdeen Bestiary.

St Isidore was a remarkable scholar. Last of the Romans, first of the medievals, his Etymologies, a kind of encyclopedia, was one of the most copied and consulted of the Middle Ages. He was also the first great historian of medieval Spain.

For some time now, I have heard that Isidore, because of his encyclopedic knowledge was considered the "unofficial" patron saint of computers and the internet. A slight bout of googling has not resolved the question of how official that patronage is. This article from five years ago suggests that Pope John Paul I was considering naming him as patron. This site lists him as patron, this site says he was made patron in 1999, and this site claims it happened in 2002. Does anyone know? Is there an official list somewhere online?

It is not unusual for saints to be patrons of technological advancements. St Clare was named patron of television by Pius XII in 1958, because she had clairvoyent experiences -- she saw and heard things that were happening in other places. Poor St Clare! In 1958 no one could have foreseen the coming of Jerry Springer and "Wife Swap."

Whether or not St Isidore is officially patron of the internet or not, he is a great saint, and this prayer, in both Latin and English, is to be prayed to St Isidore before connecting to the web.

Spring is here

Finally, it's spring. Almost 70 degrees, the air is warm, sweet, full, promising, and graced with birdsong. The light is brighter than it has been for months and we blink like animals coming up from hibernation. The street buzzes, everyone's out for a walk. Outside the barbarshops on Amsterdam Avenue, the Dominicans dance next to their parked cars, the car stereos blaring salsa.

(I refer of course to people from the Dominican Republic; the Dominican friars at Notre Dame on Morningside Avenue are not dancing next to their parked cars, the car stereos blaring salsa. They are, I imagine, preparing for the Friday Via Crucis. They are not from the Dominican Republic; they are from Poland.)

One hours' lost sleep this weekend and we shall begin the long days, the evening sun high over the Hudson, the stirrings of urban wildlife in Riverside Park. Every glorious spring I ask myself how the hell I ever got through winter.

finis tyranni

Map of West Africa, 1621.

Charles Taylor is now in the hands of an international tribunal in Sierra Leone. He had been exiled to Nigeria, but the head of the newly-elected democratic government of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Africa's first woman president and a cousin of Imperatrix pulcherrima Africae Occidentalis, asked for his extradition. Nigeria granted this, but did not arrest Taylor, who promptly disappeared. I had told Imperatrix pulcherrima Africae Occidentalis that the extradition had been granted, but when I heard about his escape, I was wisely silent. He was captured trying to cross the border into Cameroon with a sackful of dollars.

The press in Liberia and Liberians in exile are pleased. It is hard to underemphasize what a monster Taylor is. He fomented civil war in his own country and across West Africa, unrest responsible for the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives. His troops of choice were child soldiers, given drugs and automatic weapons, weirdly dressed in women's clothing and wigs, happily indulging in rape and mutilation. Charles Taylor makes Milosevic look like a pussycat. He has destroyed a generation of young men, who now have to be incorporated into a society with 85% unemployment. Liberia, once the model for Africa, is now one of the most dysfunctional countries in the world.

Taylor was still dangerous from his luxurious home in Nigeria, interfering with Liberian politics from abroad (many of his right-hand men were elected to the Liberian legislature). Had he not been caught, the idea of a Charles Taylor with nothing to lose loose in West Africa is terrifying. Still, the support he can still rally and the desperate situation of Liberia make for a very unstable situation for a war crimes trial. President Johnson-Sirleaf has suggested sending him to The Hague, which would be an excellent idea, removing him from volatile West Africa and providing more of a global focus on the situation. If someone like Charles Taylor cannot be tried for crimes against humanity, than international justice is a joke.

I suspect much of the pressure to extradite Taylor and then to arrest him once he disappeared came from the United States. As much as I hate to recognize anything good coming from this White House, I have to in this case. The UN has been also instrumental in allowing for the end of the civil war and peaceful and democratic elections. I like the idea of Irish and Mongolian soldiers working together to make the streets of Monrovia livable. Still, much more has to be done. Bono is certainly right about debt relief, but that's not all. Europe, the United States, and other large markets should open their doors to African goods. Call me a liberal, but yes, lots of money should be thrown at the problem. Infrastructure, utilities, and education are essential. The United States, having created Liberia, has its own moral responsibility. One more thing: not one more gun should be sold in Africa. Arms merchants should be treated at least the same way that we treat the cartels that bring cocaine into the United States.

Let us pray for a peaceful and prosperous Africa.

PS: Another thing. During the 80's, Taylor was arrested in the US on a Liberian warrent issued by the then-dictator of Liberia, Samuel Doe. He mysteriously escaped from a Boston jail, after which he eventually returned to Liberia to overthrow the Doe regime. Some people think the Reagan administration, having decided to stop supporting Doe, was involved in his escape. Is this true? Hard to say, but it is not unthinkable, given US policy of supporting and then overthrowing the same dictators they had supported (Saddam Hussein, Noriega), a policy embraced by the Reagan administration. A little bit of extra responsibility on our hands, then.

PPS: A heartbreaking report about Taylor's Liberia.

Via Crucis

I received an email today from Bob Carlton today suggesting a great idea -- a grid blog Via Crucis, or Stations of the Cross. Here's the email:

"Holy Week, which this year begins on 9 April and ends on 15 April, originated in Jerusalem in the earliest days of the Church, when devout people traveled to Jerusalem at Passover to reenact the events of the week, leading up to what we now know as the Resurrection. I'd like to invite you to be part of a grid blog during this year's Holy Week, using our blogs to reenact, relive, and participate in the steps of Jesus Christ through what our many traditions have come to call the Via Crucis - the Stations of the Cross.

If you are interested in joining this global effort, the first thing you 'd need to do is choose which station (s) you will be blogging on.
Here's the schedule:

9 April: (1) Christ is condemned to death, (2)The cross is laid upon him
10 April: (3) His first fall, (4) He meets His Blessed Mother
11 April: (5) Simon of Cyrene is made to bear the cross, (6) Christ's face is wiped by Veronica
12 April: (7) His second fall, (8) He meets the women of Jerusalem
13 April: (9) His third fall, (10) He is stripped of His garments
14 April: (11) His crucifixion, (12) His death on the cross
15 April: (13) His body taken down from the cross, (14) His body is laid in the tomb

The way this would work is simple: each day during Holy Week, folks who have chosen to blog on the stations (s) for that day would post their own reflection on their own blogs (including media of any type) and also (a) include the Via Crucis Grid Blog tag in their subject line and in their post (b) include a common image (to be distributed in the next 10 days) and (c) include links to stations before and after them. If you are interested, please simply go to the coordinating blog and include in your comment the day (and station) you'll be blogging on. Feel free to sign up for as many stations and/or days as you'd like. Please make sure you include your email and blog url in your comment."

I myself signed up for all the stations. I think it will be a good way to spend Holy Week in a devotional frame of mind. He also suggested I invite blogging friends to join the group. Anyone up for this?

More Links

The church of San Juan de los Reyes in Toledo, Spain. Nearby is a shop that sells exquisite pate. On the side of the church are chains that held prisoners captured by the Muslims of Granada and freed by Isabel and Fernando. These chains have links.

There are some links I've been meaning to add to my list for some time now, but that means using HTML before which I, a primitive, fall to the ground, weak and trembling. I finally screwed my courage to the sticking point and there they are.

Sandlestraps' Sanctuary is a thoughtful blog written by Chris, a Methodist ex-minister who takes the time to write reasoned, intelligent posts on questions of theology, spirituality, fatherhood, and other issues that strike his interest. Very worth reading, especially since Chris is so thorough--it's so different from my busy hit and run blogging. Perspective is the work of Crystal, a Catholic convert who graces us with her great insights on spirituality, movies, books, and other good things. She also posts her own creative writing.

For more creative writing, check out The Outline of a House, a blog on which a friend and fellow poet, C. A. Liebow, posts his great poetry.

I'm also linking to the blogs of two fellow Columbia history grad students, Ted's The Late Adopter, and Kevin's Ghost in the Machine. They both study the United States, a country founded some centuries after history stops being interesting (at least for me). Kevin blogs with great energy about politics, movies, basketball, and other vital issues. Ted culls pregnant quotes from all over the place and presents them with classical simplicity.

All very good reading, indeed.

Florida 75, Villanova 62

St Augustine, looking upset.

Okay. I officially don't care about the NCAA tournament anymore.

Jesuits out of the NCAA Tournament

St. Ignatius of Loyola (probably sad right now), by the workshop of Peter Paul Rubens.

I wouldn't want to say there is weeping today in the Jesuit section of heaven, but perhaps disappointment, as both Gonzaga and Georgetown have lost and left the NCAA tournament. Since I had Gonzaga winning the final, my bracket, already weak after the first round, is now officially shot all to hell. Alas.

On the other hand, the Augustinians are still in the game. Down by one point and with three seconds to go, Villanova came back to win after a goaltending call against BC's Sean Williams, who should probably not return directly to Boston. So our last hope for a title is with the Augustinians of Villanova. Let's hope they are not so Augustinian that they don't have the free will to make it all the way to the finals. Go Wildcats.

St. Augustine (still in a good mood) from a medieval manuscript.

Krum, shotguns and hotel rooms

Krum, ninth-century Khan of Bulgaria. After defeating and killing the Byzantine emperor Nicephoros I at the Battle of Pliska in 811, he had his rival's skull made into a drinking cup. All in all, a more pleasant person than Dick Cheney.

Although I do comment on political affairs on this blog and have very strong opinions about them, I try to stay away from the character assassination that ones sees so often in blogs, right or left. My one exception is Dick Cheney, who has no character to assassinate. Disagreeable, secretive, corrupt, vulgar (remember his remark to Patrick Leahy on the senate floor), Cheney is positively Nixonian.

So I will turn to one of those curious bits of news that serve as fodder for late-night comedians and have little transcendence, but at the same time can be revealing. The hunting accident was like this. Perhaps Cheney was reckless, perhaps not. Perhaps it was an accident that could happen to anyone. The humor in the matter suggested itself: Dick Cheney "shot an old man in the face." If this had happened to other vice-presidents, there would also have been merriment. Al Gore would have explained the fault in an awkwardly wooden matter. Dan Qualye would be the butt of jokes focusing on both his intelligence and the many puns his last name would offer.

That it was Cheney, however, who "shot an old man in the face" was more suggestive and even metaphorically appropriate. It fits the mean smirk he carries on his face. The fact that he was hunting "wingless quailtards,"-- i.e., helpless birds raised for hunting and then released directly in front of fat old men armed to the teeth so that they can kill without any of the difficulty or discomfort that makes real hunting a noble sport -- is an excellent allegory for both his privilege and his attitude towards the use of armed force. His reaction to the accident was typical of the Bush administration: he did not tell the media, the secret service prevented an investigation, and there was no admission of responsibility until it was absolutely necessary. There was an attempt at a some kind of spin and cover-up, the attempt was incompetent.

Yes, I should have blogged about this when it happened. Sorry, grad school, different time-space continuum, you know. I did come across this item in the Times today. It seems that Cheney, like any good rock star, has his list of things he must have in his hotel:

All televisions sets in Mr. Cheney's hotel suite should be tuned to Fox News, all lights should be on, and the thermostat set at 68 degrees. Mr. Cheney should have a queen- or king-size bed, a desk with a chair, a private bathroom, a container for ice, a microwave oven and a coffee pot, with decaf brewed before arrival.

The vice president should also have four cans of caffeine-free Diet Sprite and four to six bottles of water. He must have the hotel restaurant menu, with a copy faxed ahead to his advance office. If his wife is with him, she should have two bottles of sparkling water, either Calistoga or Perrier.

For his reading material, Mr. Cheney should have The New York Times, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and the local newspaper.

Pretty tame. No specialty M&Ms or anything like that. Jokes could be made about what should be on the list: cup of goat blood, pentagram on the floor, etc. What fascinates me most is the requirement that "all television sets... should be tuned to Fox News." God forbid he should be forced to watch anything else, even for the five seconds it takes to find the remote. He might actually find out how different the world is than that vision which is fabricated in the White House and then vomited up again on their TV channel. How telling these details can be.

I wonder what he uses the Times for.

heresy, immigration and basketball

Late 16th-century allegory of heresy.

1. I don't have much time to post since today I have to give a lecture on 13th-century heresy to the class for which I am a TA. The 12th- and 13th-centuries were an incredible time for the development of Christianity, but they were also terribly brutal. The same religious fervor that created St Francis could spill out in many directions, and the Church lost the opportunity to dialogue with several of those, ultimately choosing to repress them instead. In our multidenominational society, it is hard to understand how dangerous a threat to unity seemed to people of that time. The paralyzing fear, however, that one word could install in society may be more familiar. Then it was "heresy." Fifty years ago it was "communism." Now it is "terrorism."

2. The Cardinal Archbishop of Los Angeles, Roger Mahony, has written an op-ed about proposed legislation on immigration that has already been passed in the House of Representatives. This law would not only involve harsher and more punitive treatment of illegal immigrants themselves, but would also criminalize their "accomplices"--that is, anyone who provides any human kindness to these people. Mahony has said that if the law is passed, he will order his priests to defy it and continue to give humanitarian aid to immigrants. This is a courageous and thoroughly Christian position.

3. How I see the NCAA tournament: The Jesuits are still alive, on two fronts. My brackets have the Northwest Jesuits beating the Augustinians in the final. I would be happy to see the Augustinians win as well.

Lá Fhéile Pádraig

Happy St Patrick's Day, everyone.

Though stuck in the gloom of a dissertation that is going nowhere (Saints Brigid of Ireland, Catherine of Alexandria, Nicholas of Myra, and Thomas Aquinas, patrons of scholars, pray for me), I must pause to remember the saint who made the Irish the second most Catholic people in the universe (first prize may well go to the Poles).

St Patrick is also the patron of the archdiocese of New York, and the cardinal archbishop has given us a dispensation to eat meat today, despite it being a Lenten Friday, in order to celebrate the good saint's feast day. I personally will dine on mutton pies and Guinness, not corned beef and green beer.

I am going to leave you with the incredibly moving prayer "The Lorica of St Patrick" (St Patrick's Breastplate). If not written by Patrick himself, it was certainly inspired by him. Its litany-like repetitions are hypnotic. The beginning "I arise today" makes it personal, giving the idea that each believer can say he begins every day with the armor of faith. It expresses an early medieval concern with temptation, heresy, and magic, but it also shows a stunning appreciation of the beauty of creation ("light of sun, brilliance of moon"). The climax of the poem situates Christ in every relation to the believer, first in each physical direction and then in all encounters with others. It is magnificent. Happy St Patrick's, every one.

The Lorica of St Patrick

I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the
Trinity, through belief in the Threeness, through confession
of the Oneness of the Creator of creation.

I arise today through the strength of Christ with His Baptism,
through the strength of His Crucifixion with His Burial
through the strength of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
through the strength of His descent for the Judgment of Doom.

I arise today through the strength of the love of Cherubim
in obedience of Angels, in the service of the Archangels,
in hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
in prayers of Patriarchs, in predictions of Prophets,
in preachings of Apostles, in faiths of Confessors,
in innocence of Holy Virgins, in deeds of righteous men.

I arise today, through the strength of Heaven:
light of Sun, brilliance of Moon, splendour of Fire,
speed of Lightning, swiftness of Wind, depth of Sea,
stability of Earth, firmness of Rock.

I arise today, through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me, God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me, God's shield to protect me,
God's host to secure me:
against snares of devils, against temptations of vices,
against inclinations of nature, against everyone who
shall wish me ill, afar and anear, alone and in a crowd.
I summon today all these powers between me (and these evils):
against every cruel and merciless power that may oppose
my body and my soul,
against incantations of false prophets,
against black laws of heathenry,
against false laws of heretics, against craft of idolatry,
against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
against every knowledge that endangers man's body and soul.
Christ to protect me today
against poison, against burning, against drowning,
against wounding, so that there may come abundance of reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ on my right,
Christ on my left, Christ in breadth, Christ in length,
Christ in height, Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me, Christ in every ear that hears me.

I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the
Trinity, through belief in the Threeness, through confession of the
Oneness of the Creator of creation.
Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord.
Salvation is of Christ. May Thy Salvation, O Lord, be ever with us.

Update

In the end, I have made some progress on the dissertation today. My thanks to Saints Catherine, Nicholas, Thomas Aquinas, and Brigid of Ireland, who probably enjoys this day very much.

Darfur

From Informed Comment: Human Rights First has a petition about the Darfur conflict in Sudan They're trying to get 200,000 signatures to ask the UN to appoint a special envoy to deal with the situation. Please take the time to go to the site, see the short flash movie they have prepared, and read about why a envoy would be useful.

Also: an article by Nicholas Kristof on the subject. He also suggests that an envoy would help. Last time I was in the School for International and Public Affairs of Columbia University, there was an exhibition of crayon drawings by refugee children from Darfur, showing the attacks on their villages. Heartbreaking.

of wind and martyrdom

Part of the Bayeux Tapestry, my favorite comic book.

I am posting briefly today because it's been too long without a post, regardless of whether or not I have anything to say (not really) or any time to say it (certainly not). So:

1. Why didn't anybody tell me about the wind before I moved to New York City? Chicago, they say, is the windy city. I don't know about the hog butcher to the world, but I do know what it's like to be caught up in the Broadway wind tunnel. Even when not cold, immensely irritating.

2. Today is the feast day of the Martyrs of Valeria. According to Catholic Online: "Two monks hanged from a tree by the Lombards. Pope St. Gregory I the Great reported that after dying, the monks could be heard singing Psalms." The weird beauty of medieval hagiography. I imagine a Roman pine on a hill by a lonely road in what once was Ertruria. Near dusk, backlit by the setting sun. No sound but the whistling wind and haunting Gregorian chant. Two tonsured and robed silhouettes dangling from the branches. How frightening the beauty of martyr tales.

snow & lent

Medieval snow: from the Book of Hours of the Duc de Berry.

It started snowing early here in New York and now the roofs and the quad here at Columbia are dusted with white and the heavy gray sky is now letting fall freezing rain. A nice quiet afternoon for reading calmly about medieval Spain, which is what I should be doing anyway.

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday and for once the ashes on my head lingered there all day. I like Lent, its solemnity brings me back to myself in many ways. University life makes Advent difficult to appreciate, as things build to a frenzy just before Christmas and the teaching and grading load becomes unbearable. But Lent is somewhat easier, coming in the middle of the semester just when I need to be both disciplined and serious, allowing me both religion and study.

What does one say? "Happy Lent" doesn't seem quite right. I hope everyone has the Lent they need.

sin and reconciliation

Dante by William Blake: the burden of the proud in Purgatory.

We are preparing the child, filius imperatricis pulcherrimae Africae occidentalis, for his First Communion next May (he and his mother were both baptized last Easter -- he is ten years old). Part of this is his first Sacrament of Reconciliation which will take place, appropriately enough, next Saturday, the first weekend of lent. Preparing him forces me to think about how I relate to this sacrament, and I think I will confess myself next Saturday.

In my childhood, it was still a sacrament of guilt and darkened confessionals, sins reckoned up number by number, and a rushed series of Hail Marys as penance. My eight-year-old examination of conscience consisted of a panicked wondering about what sins I had committed. A quick survey of the Ten Commandments would give me enough ammunition to last through the frightening ordeal. Had I taken the Lord's name in vain? I must have said "God" inappropriately sometime. There's no way I could have always honored my father and mother. Bearing false witness meant lying, right? There's no way I had always told the truth. Armed with three broken commandments, I was ready to kneel down and whisper at the priest, sure that I must have sinned, though I may not have been aware of any particular occasion. I had enough material to get through the confession, mutter ten Hail Marys at breakneck speed, and get back into the sunlight and play, my soul shining with newfound cleanliness.

I think as a child I did appreciate the feeling of absolution, but I never really understood sin. The first time I went to confession as a believing adult was December 2004, and I haven't gone back since. That time I went to an understanding Jesuit and discussed all the difficulties that had arisen from my rejection of the Church as a teenager, and there really was plenty to talk about. Since then, it's been a bit more difficult. Oh, of course, there have been myriad failings on my part, but scanning the Decalogue doesn't seem to be that helpful to me. Counting individual trespasses does not aid to show me how and when I have fallen away from God -- which is, of course, what sin is about. Mortal sins--grave sins committed in the full knowledge that they are sins as a free, willful act--are actually easy to avoid committing in normal situations. Still, that is far from making us perfect and holy.

Reaching back into the tradition, I find the Seven Deadly Sins to speak to me about sin very clearly. Originally written about in a different form by the fourth-century ascetic and theologian Evagrius of Pontus, they came almost in their classic form to the West through the writings of Gregory the Great. Pride, greed, lust, sloth, wrath, gluttony, and envy: these are not individual crimes, rather they are habits of mind that cause us to think and act in ways that injure one another and take us away from God.

It is not surprising that it was first formulated by Evagrius at the dawn of Christian monasticism. Truly dedicated ascetics who mortified themselves in astounding ways on a quest for perfection are not likely to engage in egregious acts of sin, such as theft or adultery. They are more likely to fall prey to modes of thinking and feeling that are damaging in a different way: pride in their asceticism, sloth when they are tired of constantly singing psalms. The numbering up of individual acts of sin became more of a part of confession when the penitential lists of the evangelizing Irish monks were applied as a pastoral remedy to the problem of how to explain sin to an uneducated laity.

Now that we are no longer uneducated, we need more than simple lists of sin. I know that especially in the present political situation, I am not free from anger or from pride. Anger when I read the news, pride when I feel I somehow have a monopoly on the truth. Of course, sometimes we should be roused by injustice, as Christ was with the moneychangers in the temple. But when we let that anger take over, we lose sight of justice and seek vengeance or the misfortune of others. We feel free to despise. In a word, we fall into the destructive lie of sin.

The idea of the Seven Deadly Sins is useful because it identifies thought and intent, not just acts. Lust is a very good example. I think one of the greatest problems of the Church today is its focus on acts and not their meaning, especially in cases of sexuality. Sexuality becomes determined almost solely by biological imperatives (procreation) and not by intent and consequences. Thus a mistrust of homosexuality and an insistence on sexual asceticism that is difficult to achieve even by those who have sworn to celibacy, let alone by the laity (I'm thinking here about the classification of masturbation and birth control as sinful). It is true that sexuality is powerful, and one can sin by engaging in sexual activity. Sexual desire is not lust, sex is not lust. Lust is giving so into the force of sexuality that we become cruel and irresponsible--and I do believe more people give into lust than would admit it to themselves. I'm not ready to go into a full-scale critique of Paul VI's encyclical on birth control Humanae Vitae right here, but I think that a discussion of the sin of lust shows how we can avoid both an unhealthy kind of repressed fear of sexuality and a superficial and possibly dangerous concept of sexual freedom that does not take into account the power and consequences of sexuality.

Of course, there are people out there who have committed murder, theft, or adultery and need to confess those individual sins. They truly and deservedly feel a sense of guilt and the sacrament can be a great comfort to them. For most of us, it's a way for us to recognize those parts of us that are going towards God and those parts of us that are going away from God. It makes me happy to see that the Church that is preparing filius imperatricis pulcherrimae Africae occidentalis is a different one that prepared me. I'm sure it depends on where you are and what the priests are like. Please, find a priest who you trust and who knows it's your confession and your conscience. That makes for a good and meaningful Sacrament of Reconciliation, as well as true understanding of what sin is.

Links

The chains of St Peter in the Church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome. These chains have links.

I have refabbed my list of links in the sidebar. I will eventually add more, but it involves using html, which scares me, invokes nightmares, and requires a large amount of Bourbon afterwards. The sites I have linked to are worth it.

Of course, there's my homepage, which has some of my creative writing, both serious and goofy (the Fragmentary Writings of the Pseudo-Liam fall into the last category), as well as links to journals that have published my poetry. Some of the new links I have added are: Talmida's blog, which she uses to share some great insights she has had as a result of her study of Biblical Hebrew; the blogs of Tyler and Andrew, both of whom have dropped comments on my posts and who have similar feelings about their own Episcopal and Jewish traditions; and Catholicism, holiness, and spirituality, a "moderate, Jesuit-flavored blog," which I like both because of Steve's thoughtful posts and the quality of many of the comments -- even those I disagree with present their ideas respectfully and intelligently.

The ones that were here before: Fayrouz's blog, with the interesting perspective of an Iraqi Catholic living in the U.S.; my cousin's blog, featuring both his insight and his uncanny ability to find the oddest things on the net, William's blog which we all hope he will continue someday (please leave comments telling him to get blogging again); and the St Blog's Parish directory of Catholic blogs.

I will add more bit by bit--there are a lot of great blogs out there to be recommended. Happy reading, fellow travelers.

car alarms

A medieval cart. Note the civilized lack of a car alarm.

The other night I was awoken by a car alarm. It must have been about two o'clock in the morning and the whistling and squealing went on and on for some time. Obviously the owner of the car was far away and oblivious, perhaps drinking in some loud throbbing frat boy bar or sleeping soundly with high-quality earplugs that he or she had had bought with great forethought, in case his or her own alarm would go off and disturb his or her beauty sleep.

Now, the population density in Manhattan is about 70,000 a square mile. Let's be generous to our car owner an imagine that the alarm was only audible for half a square mile. So because one person feels that his or her car security is so terribly important, 35,000 people are shaken out of their slumber. What an appropriate symbol for our self-centered, narcissistic and materialistic society. Oh, a car alarm! How cool! What do I care about the other 34,999 people around me?

How can a car alarm that goes on for a half hour protect your car? Obviously no one cares, or they would turn it off. If I were a car thief, I would seek out cars with alarms that sound for more than a minute -- I'd know the owner was far, far away. Think on that when you leave your car alone, the alarm armed and ready.

More on the cartoons

A Muslim woman and a Christian woman playing chess from the 13th-century book on chess of Alfonso X of Castile-Leon.

Well, the uproar on the cartoons continues. I'd like to point people towards two excellent posts on the subject: Mad Canuck, who explains with detail how offensive the cartoons are, and Fayrouz, who as an Iraqi Catholic, has a great perspective from which to analyze this situation (and who has some kind words for my post). If you browse through the >60 comments on Mad Canuck's post, you will see a good representation of the kind of attitude that all three of us have warned against: the attitude that the situation is one of us against them, that the violence that has erupted is proof that the one billion Muslims in the world are all intolerant and barbarously aggressive, that they are all, in a word, our enemies.

Indeed, the situation has been very disturbing. Many people in the Muslim world have used the rage provoked by the cartoons for their own purposes. Radical anti-Western Islamists, regimes like that of Syria that prefer their people be enraged by an outside enemy and not by their own government, and the extremists in Iran all can gain from this violence. Those in the West who prefer the simple solution of hating all one billion Muslims are enjoying the violence as well. A handful of extremists carrying threatening signs are seen by many in the West as representative of Islam, instead of the vast majority represented by those who protest peacefully.

At the same time, many people ask, "All this over a cartoon?" The answer is "of course not." The cartoon was a trigger that released a flood of anti-Western feeling among many Muslims. "The War on Terror" is seen by many as a war on Islam, and by a number of people in the West as well. The war in Iraq, the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib and Gitmo, the treatment of Muslim visitors to the US, the uncritical support of Israeli human rights abuses, the rhetoric of many of our politicians, preachers, and pundits... Couple this with the marginalization of Muslims in Europe, laws against their traditions and a history of brutal colonialism... This is the context in which a radical demonstrator will hold up a sign asking for "Death to freedom of expression." Freedom of expression, liberty, democracy are words that swell our hearts in the US and Western Europe, but that don't resonate so much everywhere else--not because they aren't universal values, but because they are values that must be cultivated, not imposed, especially imposed by arrogant powers made wealthy from imperialism.

I do not excuse calls for violence and against freedom of expression. We must, however, make an effort to understand how those who oppose us see us. If the only answer we can come up with to the question "Why do they hate us?" is the vapid and simplistic "Because they hate freedom," we will be doing little more than continuing to contribute our share to misunderstanding and hatred, a misunderstanding and hatred that have had and will have brutal results. It is, as the prime ministers of Spain and Turkey have stated, in all of our interests to defuse this situation. I will not stand here wagging my finger and say, "the Muslims must do this, the Muslims must do that," when I know how much work we in the West have to do. We need to understand our own prejudices and our own policies. We need to get off the soapbox and, if we really do abhor the violence, start towards understanding.

cartoons and crusades

A twelfth-century crusaders bids farewell to his wife.

I received an email from a friend about the controversy about the Danish cartoons which have provoked protest and threats of violence in the Muslim world. My friend is understandably upset about the attempt to silence the cartoonist through intimidation and he has written to the New York Times, asking them to publish the cartoons in solidarity with the cause of free speech.

I share his concern. At the same time, we must not forget that these cartoons are as vile as any anti-Semitic or racist propaganda. We should not censor them, and if we must publish them as a gesture for freedom of expression, we should do it with the same grim resignation that we would save if we felt obligated to publish excerpts from Mein Kampf or Klu Klux Klan leaflets. We should not only fight for the cartoonist's right to publish, we should denounce his bigotry. I denounce it here and I also denounce the publication and dissemination in Muslim countries of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. We should demand free speech everywhere as we condemn hatred and ignorance.

It is not surprising that one of the newspapers that printed the cartoons is produced by fundamentalist Christians. How are we going to convince the Muslim world that our policies are not anti-Islam "crusader" attacks when so many voices that identify themselves specifically as Christian make comments that are not only critical of extremism and terrorism, but of Islam itself. Not only our old buddy Pat Robertson, but many Christian bloggers I have stumbled across seem intent on demolishing any tolerance whatsoever for one of the world's great religions. Add to that a general who boasted that his victory over a Muslim warlord was due to the fact that "my God was bigger than his... his was an idol." And interrogation techniques that involve psychological torture specifically targeted to Muslim sensibilities, including abuse of the Koran? Is it surprising that many Muslims see this as a war of cultures? Unlike us, they have historical memory and are mistrustful of European and American aims towards the Mideast. Everywhere in the Middle East, extremists are gaining support -- In Palestine, Iran, Egypt... Do we really want to continue to define this conflict as a war of cultures, a war of religion? Especially when Christianity is supposed to be a religion of peace, love, and respect?

I don't know if there is a way to diffuse this time bomb. There are too many suspicions and prejudices deeply ingrained in the minds of everyone involved. I certainly don't mean to excuse attempts from individuals in the Muslim world from trying to silence thinkers or manipulate issues like this for political gain. The threats to Salman Rushdie and the murder of Theo Van Gogh were unpardonable. We must protect the right of freedom of expression of even the most vile of its practioners, but we should also try much harder to avoid fanning the flames of Holy War on both sides. We should be aware that fundamentalists on the Christian side of the fence are just as intransigent and dangerous. Last of all, those of us who really read the Gospels should know how to respond to a world-wide cultural crisis: with love and understanding, not with hatred and degradation. That's not rank sentiment: lives depend on it.

Enron

Medieval wine merchants.

I am crazy busy right now, but I just had to comment on the beginning of the trial for Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling of Enron. According to the NY Times article I just linked, the case is complex and a guilty verdict is not a forgone conclusion -- especially with the army of expensive lawyers these men have at their disposal (note: I am not anti-lawyer, I come from a family of lawyers. But at times I am distressed at what unlimited financial resources can do to justice in a courtroom).

Not only should these men be behind bars for the sake of justice and as a warning to others like them, but the thought of what pundits on the right will say if they get off turns my stomach. If that does come to pass, remember: if these men did nothing technically illegal, that does not mean they are not guilty. It means industry-friendly laws do not protect us enough from fraudulent cowboys. They recklessly destroyed lives and families, and that should be remembered next time some fanatic of unregulated market policies starts mouthing off about how our schools, hospitals, and public and social services should be, if not directly privatized, at least "run like businesses." Businesses exist to make money, and if unchecked, will do so by the shortest route possible. The market may, in the long run, punish the most reckless, but at what cost to those caught up in their bad management? And, as Keynes said, in the long run we'll all be dead. I might remind everyone how much industry-friendly laws have been passed by our congress lately, and how much our administration is powered by people like Ken Lay. It explains a few things. Halliburton, Katrina... O, the confusion of our society! Our religions warn against greed, but our culture celebrates it and our economy makes it necessary. Which is more important?

Miniature

Medieval Spanish miniature.

The online literary journal Zafusy has created an archive, including one of my prose poems from the series I call "Miniatures" which they had previously published.

Go Chalcedon

Pope Leo I the Great. At the Council of Chalcedon, after his legates read his Tome on the two natures of Christ, the attendees declared, "Peter has spoken through Leo."

Actually I'm embarrassed I'm 50% Apollonarian. I'll have to study up. I do not apologize for being semi-Pelagian.

You scored as Chalcedon compliant. You are Chalcedon compliant. Congratulations, you're not a heretic. You believe that Jesus is truly God and truly man and like us in every respect, apart from sin. Officially approved in 451. Chalcedon compliant 100% Pelagianism 75% Nestorianism 50% Apollanarian 50% Modalism 33% Adoptionist 33% Monophysitism 33% Socinianism 0% Monarchianism 0% Arianism 0% Docetism 0% Gnosticism 0% Donatism 0% Albigensianism 0% Are you a heretic? created with QuizFarm.com

I found this at Talmida's blog.

Judas

I have very little time to blog right now, as I am taking care of the Imperatrix pulcherrima Africae occidentalis after her ACL reconstruction surgery. I offered to perform the surgery myself with a rubber band and a corkscrew, but she insisted on having a "real" doctor. She is recovering well.

I just wanted to point out an interesting article I came across on a possible re-evaluation of the figure of Judas Iscariot. It raises some interesting questions, questions that have always haunted theology. The question of God's mercy vs. God's justice. If Judas did not betray Jesus, then there would be no crucifixion, so in a way he was fulfilling God's plan for salvation. Yet, if he were only a tool for that plan, that raises problems about free will. Food for thought.

another picture of me

patriae et partides

The Church (Ecclesia) as the bride of Christ in a late medieval manuscript.

Happy New Year one and all.

I have written before on current events in the Catholic Church, especially the question of gay priests, but I have yet to really write about how I see myself personally as a member of the Church. I have been back in the pew for a year now, it's time to talk about it.

My return to being a practicing Catholic has surprised and intrigued some friends of mine, especially those who are ex-Catholics or somewhat fallen-away Catholics. I'm sure once I crawl out of the hole called grad school and get back in touch with non-Catholic friends there will be confusion there as well. Many of these people equate being Catholic with absolute obedience to every word sent out from Rome, and once they have confirmed that I am far from agreeing with many current Vatican positions, they wonder if I know what I'm doing. They must think (and so do many of my more conservative Catholic brothers and sisters that I have come across on the web) that it would be much more consistent for people like me to give up on all this Romish nonsense and join a more enlightened denomination, say the Episcopalians or the Unitarians.

Now, there are a number of ways to reply to this line of thinking. One would be to point to the immense richness and diversity of this Church, a Church that has remained open to a wide variety of opinions despite the great effort at centralization that has taken place in Rome under John Paul I and Benedict XVI. Another would be to remind my interlocutors of the importance of conscience in the Catholic tradition -- this is not just an easy excuse, but rather a recognition of the difficult task of balancing the inner self and a humble desire for unity and community. I could state that the Church is not only the institution and hierarchy, but the whole of believers, the Body of Christ. I could go on and on in this vein, and I probably will return to these issues in later posts, but I would rather comment on the difference in perception of this matter that I have noticed in myself, on one hand, and on those not actively inside the Church, on the other.

I have problems with the hierarchy of the Catholic Church on a number of issues: clerical celibacy, women priests, homosexuality (actually many of the Church's official positions on sexuality in general), birth control, and lay participation in the governance of the Church, to name a few. I am pro-choice and I believe that the Church's official stand on stem cell research and euthanasia could use more nuance. In certain occasions, I believe the Church hierarchy's actions have been reprehensible -- the reaction to pedophile priests and the misinformation given about condoms and AIDS, for example. (Notice how I refer to "hierarchy" and "official" and not just "the Church." Once again, that's another question).

Given my problems and occasional outrage, why don't I drop my rosary and walk out the Church doors? Because the Church is not a club, it is not a political party. It is not a corporation that someone works for or supports as a consumer. This is something that my friends who are not practicing Catholics do not seem to understand. It is more like a homeland. I lived in Spain for ten years and spoke the language almost perfectly (though with a thick accent). I understood obscure cultural references and intricate puns. I felt quite at home there. Still, even were I to become a Spanish citizen and never come back, I would never lose my Americanness. Even though my politics are far to the left of every important US politician, I am American. The same thing is true about my Catholicness. My understanding of the religious experience is tied up with the tradition and liturgy of the Catholic Church. I do not claim that a Catholic is closer to God than an Episcopalian or a Unitarian, I have tremendous respect for those traditions, but when I walk into St John the Divine I do not feel that, as a sacred space, it is organized in a way that relates to me. Catholic sacramentality, Catholic imagery, and Catholic devotion speaks to me. I feel with very little doubt that this is where God wants me to be.

Of course, who knows what the future may hold? I may be blinded on the road to Damascus or the number three train and be converted to Methodism, Judaism, or Buddhism. I doubt it, but who knows? I know I won't be forced out of my two-thousand-year-old Church by the opinions of a small group of men at the top. I will try to understand them, always respect their offices, and follow my conscience. I will be part of this Church whether they want me there or not. I pray that I have both the strength to do what is right and the humility not to assume I am always right, and thus to always serve the Sancta Mater Ecclesia, the bride of Christ.

random notes

Today's the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, so here it is. Francisco de Zurbaran, 1598-1664. The painting is late for me, but in my period there was still a lot of debate on the Immaculate Conception (Both St Bernard of Clairvaux and St Thomas Aquinas objected on theological grounds, Duns Scotus promoted it).

On the infamous Vatican document. A Jesuit friend of mine mentioned that it only affects diocesan priests, not religious orders such as the Jesuits or the Franciscans. Also, for a good explanation of the types of Vatican documents there are and the authority they carry, see Nathan Nelson's blog.

Another short list:

1. Ave Maria, gratia plena.

2. It is too cold in NYC today.

3. The sheen of desire, the embrace of calm.

4. I don't know what GI Joes are like today, but I'm sure they were better in the seventies. Life-like hair and kung-fu grip, what more could you ask for? Even if the hair rubbed off and the rubbery fingers disappeared.

5. Every pearl you buy means untold suffering for an oyster. Join the Oyster Liberation Front (OLF) today.

6. My dearest, imperatrix pulcherrima Africae occidentalis, has a bad cold today. Please pray for her recovery.

7. The Jazz actually won last night... Against Atlanta... oh...

8. Dominus tecum.

Puritas Ecclesiae

Gregory VII, reforming pope, 1073-1085.

A professor I teach for who is an expert on the medieval papacy remarked to me that what is happening in the Vatican right now can very easily be understood from an eleventh-century perspective. I had already been thinking this, and a bit of history can be a helpful tool in understanding a deep-seated way of thinking that can still be found in the papal curia.

The tenth-century Church was in a state of crisis. The papacy had become a tool of ambitious Roman families, and the weak and irreligious men they installed on the papal throne brought the institution to its nadir in prestige and influence. Elsewhere in Europe, the fractioning of political power after the dismemberment of the Carolingian Empire was mirrored with a fractioning of ecclesiastical power, with many churches and monasteries falling into the hands of local nobles. A spirit of reform, however, began to grow; first in monasteries like Cluny or Gorze, then brought to Rome by Emperor Henry III and his ecclesiastical advisors, and finally imposed on the Church as a whole by reforming popes such as Leo IX, Gregory VII, and Urban II.

The reformers were concerned mainly with two great problems: simony (the selling of ecclesiastical offices) and clerical celibacy. One great goal was libertas ecclesiae, the independence of the Church from secular influence. A great many discussions of clerical celibacy that I come across in the press mention that its origins are to be found in the desire to keep sons of priests from inheriting church property. Indeed this is a factor from the point of view of libertas ecclesiae, but there was another goal that was more deeply psychological, which is puritas ecclesiae, or purity of the Church. This was as much a liturgical concern as any, and had much to do with the worry that impure hands would handle the precious body and blood of Christ. It went hand in hand with libertas ecclesiae, since Churchmen wished their ministers to be cleanly differentiated and independent of the laity, many of whom were regularly involved in bloodshed and sexual impropriety. One writer complained that it would be unacceptable for a priest or bishop to swear fealty to a lay lord, invoking the image of the hands that handled the sacrament enclosed in the blood-stained hands of a bellicose noble.

The reform strengthened the Church and created the conditions for all the glories (and excesses) of high medieval Christianity. At the same time, the concern for purity made the clergy entirely a class apart, more deserving, it would seem, than the laity of the title of holiness. This separation could be seen sacramentally. Only a priest could take communion in both forms, wine and bread, while the laity was restricted to the bread (how this began is unclear, according to one story the clergy was worried about drops of the blood of Christ sticking in the laymen's thick beards). Priests would take communion at every Mass, whereas the laity would take it very rarely, and often their Eucharistic experience revolved around seeing the host elevated over the screen that separated them from the priest. The screen was symbolic of the different expectations of purity for the clergy and the laity.

Of course, many things have changed, especially after the Second Vatican Council and the liturgical reforms that followed it. Now lay Eucharistic ministers like myself can stand next to the priest on the altar and offer the consecrated wine to the faithful. The screens and rails are down and the liturgy recognizes that "the Church" is the whole body of the faithful. Still, the shock of such radical changes is not easy to absorb, and we can see this in the defensiveness about clerical privileges in this and the previous papacy. At a time of uncertainty about what clerical status means, the sex abuse scandal was overwhelming. This scandal is not essentially about the actions of individual priests, but of an institution that seemed to be more concerned with hiding the crimes of members of its own caste than with protecting its flock. Devout lay Catholics respond by demanding more input in the administration of the Church and more accountability from the hierarchy.

I have no doubts about the sincerity of Benedict and much of the hierarchy in addressing the issue and finding a way to keep more children from being abused. What is interesting is how much of their reaction is motivated by a concern for purity instead of accountability -- for puritas ecclesiae. Since married clergy is not so much a problem, it seems that the only possible response was to cruelly and unjustly scapegoat gay priests. There has been a great deal of discussion of the Vatican document about homosexuality and the priesthood. I have read the document and I can't see what "deep-seated homosexual tendencies" could mean except that the person in question is gay. The fact that many people in the hierarchy -- bishops and leaders of religious orders -- can interpret it in different ways is a hopeful sign that it will not be imposed in a draconian fashion, but I think the intention is clear enough. For whatever reason, there is a concern that homosexuality among the clergy is a stain on its purity.

What the hierarchy needs to do is to learn to relinquish this idea of purity. It was useful in the eleventh century; it is harmful now. We the laity are not illiterate brutes with our hands dripping in blood (any more than they are: they vote too). We have our place at the altar, let us in. Let in gay men, married men, women. Let us all work to heal our Church.

Septem res

The Seven Liberal Arts, from the twelfth-century Hortus Deliciarum.

Fayrouz sent me this assignment, which I have slowly but whimsically completed. Of course, clumsy as I am, I have messed up the formatting. Sorry, everyone.

Seven things I plan to do:

1. Get a PhD in Medieval History sometime in the next four years.


2. Play for the NBA. This is less likely than plan #1.
   


3. Order the expensive wine for once.
   


4. Cover the imperetrix pulcerrima Africae Occidentalis with jewels and the finest silks of the mysterious and alluring East.


5. Sigh, and wistfully pull the cord on the old chain saw one more time...


6. Own an emu.


7. Travel, travel, travel.

Seven things I can do:

1. Read a charter in Visigothic script, given enough time and good light.


2. Blather on and on.


3. Google efficiently.


4. Panic with great elegance.


5. Insult someone in English, Spanish, Latin, Italian, German, French, and Gaelic.


6. Make damn good lentejas, soliciting golden opinions from all sorts of people.
   
7. Procrastinate with an almost otherworldly intensity.
   

Seven things I can't do:

1. Juggle.


2. Appreciate Nascar.


3. Convince the guard at the White House of my sincerity.


4. Dunk without a trampoline and a basket only four feet above the ground.


5. Rap in Latin (but I'm trying, I'm trying).


6. Get this probation thing off my ankle with only a pocketknife.


7. Watch reality television without feeling that civilization has fallen apart and that the barbarians are not only at the gates, but in the control room.

Seven things I say most often:

1. &%#@*!


2. What?


3. Groovy.


4. Row, damn you, row, they're gaining on us... and they're armed.


5. Si lo pones ahi, va a estallar.
6. &#^$%!
7. No, it's only blood.
   

Seven people I want to pass this tag to:

1. Guillaume le Fou.
2. Mi primo.
   
3. Eon de l'Etoile, the mad 12th century heretic of Brittany.
4. The laughing cat.
   
5. The old man who punched me on Broadway.
6. Cleopatra, asp-bitten and pale.
7. Frank O'Hara, wherever he may be.

Saladin

I am too busy to write anything now, as I am slogging through pages and pages of notes trying to see if I have something similar to a dissertation topic. I liken myself to a paleontologist who has discovered a thousand interesting small bones but has yet to find out whether or not they make up one dinosaur. Still, I wanted to alert anyone who may come upon this blog to the fascinating meditation by Juan Cole on the death of Syrian-American producer Moustapha Akkad in the terrorist attack in Jordan. Just go to the entry for Tuesday, November 15. Apparently Akkad was planning a film about the great 12th-century Muslim leader Salah ad-Din, or Saladin.

The Worst Sort of Men

Philip IV "Le Bel" of France. Ruthless, sometimes a real bastard, but at least he knew what he was doing.

Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld: the worst sort of men. Small-minded, corrupt, arrogant, cowardly bullies, yet at the same time driven by ideology. A fearful combination. On one hand, they are men of huge ambition: they really believed that through one simple invasion they could turn the entire Mideast into a peaceful Western democracy, a market for American goods, a base for American military and a voice of support for American policy. Yet the means they used were petty and corrupt, too easy -- means that would appeal to a privileged underachiever like our president, whose place in college was guaranteed by legacy, who avoided service in a war through family influence, who was bailed out of business failures by his father's friends, and who entered politics thanks to a war chest compiled by large corporations who knew a good puppet when they saw one.

So support for the war was achieved the easy way: on the international front by the reckless breaking of a consensus that had been in place for fifty years, and on the domestic front by deception, intimidation of adversaries (e.g., Joseph Wilson), and the appropriation for themselves of a national tragedy that belonged to all Americans. These men who had avoided war themselves sent soldiers into battle without an exit strategy, sufficient numbers or enough equipment. They refused the dead to be photographed so that the cost of the war is not on the front page of the paper. They callously and glibly spoke of going into war "with the army you have," when they were the ones responsible for the state of the army we have and the fact that we unnecessarily went into war. Playing GI Joe, they landed on aircraft carriers and said "bring 'em on." Once we found ourselves in the middle of the disaster they created, a place where there are no easy answers, they botched a vital reconstruction by handing out no-bid contracts to cronies and threw gasoline on the fire of the insurgency by resorting to stupid brutality in Abu Ghraib and Fallujah. They created a dangerous mess that could only be cleaned up through the utmost delicacy and honest recognition that any solution will be prolonged and involve sacrifice. These are virtues that the men of this administration lack to an almost pathological degree.

They have been assisted by a congress controlled by a party driven by its extremists and so hungry for absolute power that transparency, bipartisanship and common decency have fallen by the wayside. The party that attacked the previous president for lying about a personal matter is now suffering investigation or indictment at its highest levels. Any opposition or even discussion meets with the same argument that Cheney used to debate Sen. Patrick Leahy over Halliburton.

Bush himself is still something of a mystery. Does he believe what he says? How much of a puppet is he? It seems he is sincere in his weird, twisted, and megalomaniac version of religion. At the same time, while incapable of listening to criticism or imagining himself mistaken, he is not as steadfast as his supporters believe him to be. His behavior in the Harriet Miers nomination show him for what he is: an opportunistic coward. He thought he could avoid a battle by nominating a crony with no judicial background. He could only imply to the right and to the center that she was the woman for all seasons. When his own people revolted against him, he abandoned his hero-worshipping nominee as fast as he had named her. It was easy for him to be steadfast when the media and congress were behind him and the magic words "nine-eleven" could silence any adversary, even decorated war veterans. Now that he has run into adversity we see how much "character" he has.

These are the worst of men. Much worse than the Democrats, who are bad but are essentially merely pathetic and not dangerously insane. My friend Guillaume le Fou (whose brilliant blog everyone reading this should check out, leaving comments berating him for not posting more often) sums up the problem well: "The difference between the Republicans and the Democrats is that the Republicans have a vision. It's a scary vision, but the Democrats have nothing." A scary vision, benefiting the privileged, destroying freedoms, and ignoring our most important problems. It would be nice if the Democrats could at least try to see if vision is possible. Barack Obama, anyone?

Meanwhile...

I have been too busy moving into a new apartment to blog, so I'm going to post an old writing exercise from three years ago, dedicated to Imperatrice pulcherrima Africae occidentalis. It's about memory. I refer to Donald Revell, the great poet and teacher with whom I was fortunate enough to take a workshop at the University of Utah.



What I Have Forgotten

For Romell

What I have forgotten… a theme that can’t help begging the question. If I have forgotten it, I can’t possibly state it here. Donald Revell would not approve. He’d say claiming to state, in a poem, something that one has forgotten would be dishonest. So to imagine what one has forgotten one would have to engage in some Zen-like exercise in order to imagine what is not there, to achieve the blankness of lost memory, the pure white cleanliness of the tabula rasa or the lightless black of a totally closed room. It is said the accustomed eye can detect a single photon; we must imagine a room without even a particle of memory. Tough.

Perhaps that’s the wrong approach. Loss of memory leaves at times a track, a sfumato trace that hints at itself without arriving at definition or identity. That maddening feeling that a song title or film director’s name is on the tip of one’s tongue, on the Zeno Express: the train that is coming but never actually arrives at the station. A powerful knowledge of absence with tantalizing hints that are never enough.

Plato, despairing at the impossibility of ever learning something new, at the mind ever apprehending something that was completely unfamiliar but that would eventually fold into its landscape, decided that all knowledge was remembering. Souls would transmigrate, learning was the rediscovery of what one knew in a previous incarnation. It does beg the question, too, of the first bit of knowledge, but still it gives credence to the déjà vu feelings that spark up in everyday life, and when a woman one has just met seems knowable down to the core of her being and one feels also instantly known, it is reassuring to think we are just remembering, that what we are experiencing for the first time, apparently, is just what we have forgotten, rising to the surface of the sea of our existence after so many lifetimes of tired wandering.

Saturday somewhere

Alfonso VI of Leon-Castile, someone I've been spending a lot of time with recently. At least, I've been reading his charters searching for clues to a dissertation topic.

It's been a terribly busy and difficult week for me, my nerves are worn, and my dearest love, Imperatrix pulcherrima Africae occidentalis, has had to put up with quite a bit of my nonsense. I have a lot of work to do, but one must blog. So, here's a list:

1. The kindness of strangers.
2. Fourteen quail eggs, with a pinch of dust from a cathedral floor.
3. The Rule of St Benedict (more on this later).
4. At this moment: Notre Dame 7, USC 7. Go Irish.
5. A sensation of heavy waxiness in shoulder, accented at times by birdsong and a light feathering of despair.
6. Poet Liam comes out of semi retirement (for links to my poems, check out my website) to opine on the Nobel Prize for literature: Yes, Pinter does deserve it, but will someone please tell the Swedes that Americans write poetry while John Ashbery is still around? Yes, plenty of American writers have won, but none of them have been poets, despite the many brilliant poets that the country has produced, from Anne Bradstreet to Alexandra van de Kamp. Come on, guys, help us out here. If one of us could get the Nobel Prize, maybe Americans would actually start reading poetry.
7. At this moment: Notre Dame 7, USC 14. Damn.
8. Awoken at night by the clanging of metal sheets, I looked out of my window and saw men in robes carrying dark, curious objects down Amsterdam Avenue. Illuminated by flashes of lightning (occasionally) and flashes from paparazzi cameras (more frequently), they emitted small, weak sounds, like the tired bleating of consumptive sheep.
9. They are counting the ballots from this week's election in Liberia. Let us pray for peace, stability, and prosperity for the people of that country who have suffered so much.
10. Good wine, held on the tongue.
11. For a home, Sancte Joseph, ora pro nobis.
12. At times, it's not like that at all. At times desire rears up for its own sake: washed down, beaten back, thrown across the pond like so many shattered watches, it feels the cold light of dawn at precisely the right moment. Or not.
13. Karl Rove, Tom Delay, Bill Frist, moral values.
14. De profundis clamavi ad te Domine.
15. My favorite list: the Chinese encyclopedia of Borges.
16. Another game, final score: Penn 44, Columbia 16. Pathetic and depressing but not unexpected.
17. Storm clouds are gathering again.
18. If only we could snatch it from the air, like a lazy fly. Then there would be much uncorking of bottles and tales of past heroics. But up here the breeze only suggests, and only in its best moments.
19. Touchdown Our Lady. Notre Dame, 14, USC 14. Who will win?
20. Must leave for a prayer and a haircut.

News on Gay Seminarians

St. Francis, one groovy saint, painted by Giotto, one groovy painter.

There's fresh news on the status of gay men in the priesthood. Of course, as usual, the actual document has not been released, and we have to rely on "a Vatican source." Still, the information is very detailed and looks like something that has been intentionally leaked to head off rumors. There is good news, bad news, and good news.

The good news is that there will be no absolute ban on gay men in seminaries. This will be a great relief to gay men who feel they have a vocation to the priesthood, and seminary faculty and administrators whose ministry is to prepare and not exclude those men. It is also good news to the rest of us Catholics, since we do not have to feel that our Church has denied us ministers for bigoted and reactionary reasons.

The bad news is that there are still conditions under which gay men are not to be admitted to seminaries:

• If candidates have not demonstrated a capacity to live celibate lives for at least three years;
• If they are part of a "gay culture," for example, attending gay pride rallies (a point, the official said, which applies both to professors at seminaries as well as students);
• If their homosexual orientation is sufficiently "strong, permanent and univocal" as to make an all-male environment a risk.

Although this is presented more as a guide than a rule, it is still terribly insulting to gay Catholics. It implies that homosexuals are somehow less capable of celibacy then straight men (despite certain scandals). In fact, according to this document, if their orientation is "strong, permanent and univocal" (whatever that means), they can put "an all-male environment" at risk. Has anyone ever suggested that straight priests whose heterosexual orientation is "strong, permanent and univocal" avoid working in all-female environments, such as convents or certain parish offices?

The prohibition of priests participating in "gay culture" is also problematic. While recognizing that certain priests may be gay, they deny they right of these priests to negotiate their identity as gay men in our society and they imply that their identity is something to be hidden away and closeted. It also restricts the ability of priests to participate in their community in areas with a large gay population and thus minister effectively to gay Catholics.

The news on the whole, however, is as good as we can expect from a hierarchy which is this defensive about its power. If the document follows the line described by the Vatican source, it means the most intransigent, homophobic and exclusionary voices in the hierarchy have lost their battle. Although the document may be insulting in the conditions discussed above, it does not take the fatal step of declaring being homosexual as intrinsically sinful, and thus it is a building block upon which to slowly eradicate homophobia from the Church. Also, the document allows a certain about of maneuvering room for seminary officials, saying of the three conditions:

Whether or not these criteria exclude a particular candidate is a judgment that must be made in the context of individual spiritual direction, rather than by applying a rigid litmus test...

As long as there is the space for applying criteria on a case-by-case basis, there is still autonomy for different seminaries and different orders to approach this question in a more sensitive manner, allowing officials to follow their consciences and preventing an exodus of the best seminary officials from the field. If the Vatican document comes out as described by the source, it will be very far from a step forward. It will, however, not be such a step backwards as to cause irreparable damage to the Church.