Ad Orientem

"GI Korea" posts the above photo of "Chaplain Kenny Lynch conduct[ing] services north of Hwachon, Korea, for men of 31st Regt. August 28, 1951" — Picture of the Day: Christian Church Service During the Korean War. Of course, what we see is a Traditional Latin Mass, which is what all of them would have been at the time.

Stephen Hand's Return

A venerable Catholic presence on the Internet has announced the welcome news of his intention "to move beyond explicit theological controversy, and return to working for a better spiritual world through the Christic-Franciscan works of mercy and peace, the beatitudes, etc., in a difficult time" — A Note to Readers.

I encourage everyone to read that post, because it contains a very imnportant prayer request and the remarkable story of how he came to his decision, and to visit his new site — Works of Mercy, Works of Life, edited by Stephen Hand.

First Lady in Black

Contrasting yesterday's unfortunate incident — South Korea's Protestant First Lady Violates Vatican Protocol — is the happy news that "Mrs. Obama followed protocol perfectly and looked very dignified," as reported by Terry Nelson — All rightey then! She's back on the best dressed list.

(The President is seen presenting the stole of Saint John Nepomucene Neumann, a second class relic, to the Pontiff — Obama’s gift to the pope? It’s definitely not an iPod.)

The "Alternative Tradition" Defined

Patrick Deneen left off reminding us that "the two great traditions of America – liberalism and conservatism – are really one and the same" and hinting at the real alternative by noting that "nothing brings the Left and Right together quicker than a good critique of modernity" — The Alternative Tradition in America.

After making note of the Tocquevillean observation that "not only is liberty good for religion: religion is good for liberty," Mr Deneen describes "specific features of this 'Alternative Tradition' that draw deeply from classical and religious wellsprings, and that are fundamentally distinct from the various waves of modernity" — The Alternative Tradition in America – Part 2.

The Future of South Korea

There doesn't appear to be much of one:

• Korea will lose 6.4M people by 2050
• 40 Pct. of Koreans Will Be Elderly by 2050
• Korea to Become Most Aged Society in OECD in 2050

Clarity from Korea's Bishops

A reminder of "the strong opposition of Catholics to the introduction of 'mercy killing' in the country" — Korean bishops: "death with dignity" is a euphemism for legalizing euthanasia. Quoted is Msgr. Gabriel Chang Bong-hun, President of the South Korean Bishops Conference:

We are not against the refusal of the patient to remain attached to the respirator, when he/she reaches the last moment of life and want to breathe on their own. However, this refusal [of the respirator] should not be construed as a desire to die. The removal of life support involves the interruption of an artificial prolonging of life in terminal patients. But in any case, the basic medical care should not be interrupted, including the provision of food and water.

The case that prompted the above message has been much reported on on these pages, most recently about three weeks ago — Kim Ok-kyung, Rest in Peace.

The Mogambo Guru on Gold

"And while this may be a 'new era' for most things, I'm betting that the 'buy gold when your government is acting like spendthrift, corrupt morons' philosophy that has served the 'old era' of the last 4,500 years of human history so well will continue to do so now," says Richard Daughty — Double-digit doom.

Thoughts About Sarah Palin

If I had any, I imagine they might be close to those of "nouspraktikon" — Two Cheers for Sarah Palin! Then again, they might be closer to these from Radley Balko, quoted by Mark Shea via John Schwenkler — Pretty Much Everything I've Tried to Say:

It is possible that Sarah Palin was both unfairly mistreated and personally attacked by the media and many on the left, and that her family was rather ruthlessly and mercilessly run through the ringer . . . and that she’s a not particularly bright, not particularly curious, once libertarian-leaning governor who sadly devolved into a predictable, buzzword spouting culture warrior when she was prematurely picked for national office by John McCain.

Sign of the Day (and of the Times)

The Marmot's Hole links to a report that an American "community that seemed on the road to becoming a ghost town has taken a turn toward prosperity despite the recession, thanks to.... Korean car manufacturer Kia" — Town hits economic jackpot to become 'Kia-ville'.

I'm happy for the good people of West Point, Georgia, but heartbroken for America. How did America go from the world's manufacturing powerhouse to a source of cheap labor for one of our protectorates, who, we should remember, kept its markets closed to our products for decades, while we guaranteed its defense?

"World Political Authority"

Lewis McCrary examines the three most troubling words (for a paleoconservative) in the latest papal encyclical — Is the Pope for New World Order?

Rather than try to teach the pope as a certain Mr. Novak has done, Mr. McCrary has the humility to try to learn, and concludes that "a closer reading of Caritas demonstrates that more international solidarity is not necessarily a recipe for global Leviathan, particularly if it is conditioned by the Church’s formulation of subsidiarity."

Neo-Conservative, Neo-Catholic

"The Catholic tradition—even the wise Pope Benedict—still seems to put too much stress upon caritas, virtue, justice, and good intentions, and not nearly enough on methods for defeating human sin in all its devious and persistent forms," wrote Michael Novak, in his critique of the latest papal encyclical — The Pope of Caritapolis.

Of course, we are free to take issue with this or that non-magisterial statement from a pope (who, after all, is only a pope). The disturbing (but unsurprising) part in the statement, from a man with a history of arguing against popes in defense of American imperial wars, is its advocacy of "methods for defeating human sin in all its devious and persistent forms."

It follows that for Mr. Novak, bombing A-rabs is one of these methods. How eerily similar is Mr. Novak's call to George W. Bush's vow to "eliminate Evil from this world."

Are not "caritas, virtue, [and] justice" (let us ignore the snide and uncharitable allusion to "good intentions") the very "methods for defeating human sin?" And will not "human sin in all its devious and persistent forms" only be defeated with the General Judgment?

I've always been wary of using terms like "Neo-Catholic" or calling into question the faith of my brothers over political questions, but what is an eschaton-immanentizing call for "methods for defeating human sin in all its devious and persistent forms" if not a "new gospel?" Mr. Novak is a loose cannon (quite literally) with the American Church.

[link via Catholic and Enjoying It!]

A Eugenicist on the Supreme Court?

"Frankly I had thought that at the time Roe was decided, there was concern about population growth and particularly growth in populations that we don’t want to have too many of," said Justice Ruth Ginsburg — Just Enough of Her, Way Too Many of Them.

Mark Shea calls the interview with the Grey Lady in which the comment was made "this week's 'manufacturing consent' moment," noting "how the reporter simply skips the eugenics remark about eliminating undesirables and re-directs the conversation right back to standard pro-choice boilerplate."

The Fall of Communist China?

Justin Raimondo says the "old-fashioned full-fledged race riot" last week "goes a long way toward exposing the sheer brittleness of the regime" — China’s Porcelain Empire.

Noting that "the central government in Beijing has a very difficult time exerting dominance over outlying provinces, and the leadership, far from being unified, exhibits several competing centers of power," he suggests that "China is far too big, and its government woefully top-heavy and out-of-touch." He concludes, "Events in Urumqi augur the break-up of the Communist state, just as the Polish upsurge led by Solidarity prefigured the implosion of the Soviet empire."

A Libertarian Defends McCarthyism

Justin Raimondo debunks "the liberal delusion that McCarthyism was a mean-spirited campaign of lies and smears based entirely on the ambition and alcohol-fueled paranoia of one flawed human being, whose name has become synonymous with witch-hunting" — Seeing Reds.

Mr. Raimondo identifies "the real history and nature of McCarthyism, which pointed to an internal enemy, rather than the alleged external military threat from the Soviet Union, as the main danger to America." This, he explains, is "why liberal anti-Communists, and the intellectual predecessors of today’s neoconservatives, recoiled at the sight of the populist McCarthy rallying millions of Americans against their own government and the elites who controlled it," and also "why the postwar remnants of the old 'isolationist' America First movement were such ardent McCarthyites."

"If the main danger was at home, then we need not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy," summarizes Mr. Raimondo.

Mark Lee Soon-young's 2,624-Page Labor of Love

"Years of hard work have paid off" — Lay Catholic publishes Korean-Latin dictionary. "I wanted to have a Latin dictionary since the Church uses Latin very frequently," explained the office worker and father, who completed the project in his spare time.

His previous works include a four-volume "Daily History of the Korean Catholic Church" and a "directory of Korean priests" that "covers personal information on a total of 4,382 Catholic priests from Saint Father Andrew Kim Dae-gon, the first Korean priest who died in 1846, to those who were ordained on Sept. 14, 2005." He has also "published the Psalms in five languages: English, Greek, Hebrew, Korean and Latin, in one volume," and his "next project is a multilingual Bible."

Brüno and the Good Doctor

In one scene, Brüno gets former presidential candidate Ron Paul, R-Lake Jackson, in a hotel room and tries to seduce him. Paul rushes out of the room horrified and, guess what, it’s not funny: A serious, accomplished man takes time out to do an interview. He’s treated appallingly, reacts with anger … and we’re supposed to think less of him? Don’t think so.

Film critic Mike LaSalle, quoted above by Lew Rockell — Ron Paul vs. Sacha B. Cohen.

In blogging about this before — Queer Attack on Gentleman of the Old Republic — I highlighted the facts that Sacha Baron Cohen was "the youngest of three sons in an Orthodox Jewish family," "first acted in theatrical productions featuring the Socialist-Zionist youth movement Habonim Dror," "spent a year in Israel at Kibbutz Rosh HaNikra and Kibbutz Beit HaEmek as part of the Shnat Habonim Dror," and "keeps kosher and generally observes the Jewish Shabbat, refusing to answer the phone on Shabbat." Make what connections you will; I've made mine.

In that post, it was reported that "the movie is a mix of interviews and stunts targeting... conservatives of various stripes." Why target a libertarian who at the time was a fringe figure? Could it be because Congressman Ron Paul has never "mist[aken] Tel Aviv for the capital of the United States," to borrow Russell Kirk's phrase, as "some eminent Neoconservatives" have done and continue to do?

Is North Korea Behind the Cyberattacks?

Some folks here in the South are not so sure — North’s role in Internet attack gets questioned. Opposition Democratic Party spokesman Noh Young-min "suggested that the National Intelligence Service may have political motives." From the article:

“Increasingly, the National Intelligence Service seems to be trying to achieve political aims, rather than to collect intelligence,” he said. “I wonder if the agency is seeking to justify the bill that would expand its jurisdiction, or the hard-line North Korean policy of the current administration.”

Noh was referring to the Terrorism Protection Bill, which would allow the National Intelligence Service to establish a national anti-terrorism center and would lay the legal basis for the agency to work with their overseas counterparts in fighting terrorism. The bill was drafted in 2001 but has yet to pass the National Assembly.

Sound familar?

The Mogambo Guru and Dr. Doom Agree

Richard Daughty announces the end of "the phase where a national idiocy prevailed where everyone 'invests for the long term' by putting all their money into stocks, bonds, houses, bigger government and an orgy of over-consumption, which is proven to be the wrong thing to do, and where people did not put their money in gold, which is the proven right thing to do" — Abandon ship.

"Gold prices are poised for a 'spectacular' and prolonged rally as the recession deepens and investors finally become disillusioned with the U.S. dollar" — Peter Schiff on Gold and Gold Stocks.

South Korea's Protestant First Lady Violates Vatican Protocol

She "was dressed in white, which is not in keeping with Vatican Protocol since it is allowed only for Catholic queens but not other women, who traditionally dress in black," we learn in this article about her husand's meeting with the Pontiff — Economic crisis and Korean situation at the centre of talks between Pope and President Lee. The article mentions that "white... is the colour of peace in Korea."

I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, but one would think that in Confucian Korea, where Li ("'customs', 'etiquette', 'morals', and 'rules of proper behavior'") is all-important, someone from the diplomatic corps would have warned her. The visitor to Korea is often told by his hosts that "when in rome, do as the romans do" ("로마에 가면 로마법을 따라라"); it seems the Korean first lady, when in Rome, did as a Korean would do.

Washington's War on Switzerland

"Wouldn't it be delicious if Switzerland's resistance proved to be the precipitating event that brought down Washington's wretched empire of debt and deceit?" concludes William N. Grigg, in an article on the attempt "to impose a $780 million fine on the Swiss for their refusal to enforce U.S. tax laws within their own country" — Beware William Tell's Second Arrow.

Resisting the Green Globalists

Poor countries have been served by their leaders for a change — Leaders of developing nations shun plan to cut greenhouse gases in half.

Nulla est homini causa philosophandi nisi ut beatus sit

"There is for man no reason for philosophizing other than that he be happy," wrote Saint Augustine of Hippo, quoted by Prof. James V. Schall, S.J., who comments, "Few sentences are more powerful, more consoling, and more accurate" — The Life of the Philosopher. Also quoted is Pope Ratzinger, who wrote:

The figure of Christ is interpreted on the ancient sarcophagi principally by two images: the philosopher and the shepherd. Philosophy at that time was not generally seen as a difficult academic discipline, as it is today. Rather, the philosopher was someone who knew how to teach the essential art: the art of being authentically human—the art of living and dying.

Islamo-Finance

"Mistrusting bankers has been good for their mutual funds," reports Rod Dreher — Why you should invest with Muslims. Others have said the same — Vatican Says Islamic Finance May Help Western Banks in Crisis. Having lived for a time in Malaysia, I now regret not having taken any of the many opportunities I had to invest in Islamic banking, such as Bank Islam Malaysia.

Liberals, Classical and Social

"Classical liberals—their adjective a response to the then new ‘social’ liberalism [John Stuart] Mill helped usher in—question the priority Mill gave to ‘individuality’ over other forms of life, and his critique of the role of custom in social life," writes Andrew Norton on the anniversary of Mills' infamous book — On Liberty at 150.

"Though every liberal wants to limit state control over individuals, in On Liberty Mill was as concerned by private as public power," writes Mr. Norton. Later, he continues, "On Liberty marks a turning point in liberalism. To the freedoms all liberals support, it adds an ideal of individuality, complete with experiments in living." Of the wiser, older brand of liberalism, he says:

Classical liberalism is less rationalistic and individualistic, but more pluralistic, than Mill’s liberalism. Classical liberals support the freedom to conduct ‘experiments in living,’ as they support entrepreneurship in business. Innovation is necessary to progress but error-prone; only some social and commercial experiments will prove themselves to be better than the status quo. So classical liberals take a more benign view than Mill of custom and established social practices, which offer template ‘plans of life.’ People’s lives are not second-rate just because they are derivative rather than original. Nor should civil society be attacked by the state for not supporting individuality, as modern left-liberals do in using anti-discrimination law to enforce Millian ideals of personal autonomy on conservative religious institutions. There are diverse ways of living a good life, and governments should not try to reduce their number.

Caritas in Veritate Summer School

John Schwenkler proposes "reading the new encyclical together, a chapter or two at a time" over period of "about two months" — Up for a “Caritas in Veritate” Reading Group? He suggests "post[ing] some very general talking points – perhaps on Sunday afternoons? – and then let[ting] the discussion unfold in the comments from there." If interested, sign-up on his blog.

That Cyberattack

Choe Sang-Hun reports that "the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that the [National Intelligence Service] spy agency had implicated North Korea or pro-North Korea groups" but that "[t]he opposition Democratic Party accused the spy agency of spreading unsubstantiated rumors to whip up support for a new antiterrorism bill that would give it more power" — Cyberattacks hit U.S. and South Korean Web sites. Whoever's behind the attacks, there could be more on the way — Fresh Cyber Attacks Expected Thursday Evening.

At the time of posting, I was unable to access the Voice of America for a report on this story. Other than that, my Internet surfing has been much the same today. That was not the case five years ago, when my blog (and probably yours, too) was blocked for weeks by the South Korean government because someone had posted a video of a South Korean hostage beheaded in Iraq — Blog-Blockade.

Nationalism in the Middle Kingdom

Francesco Sisci warns against "the old blame-game against Chinese authorities" — Beware the Tiananmen reflex. The kneejerk reaction is to think that "if there are dead people on the streets, it must be Beijing's fault."

Mr. Sisci reminds us, "There is no evidence of large-scale indiscriminate shooting by the police as accounting for the 156 deaths and over 800 injured." In contrast, he states, "There is abundant evidence that the protesters set the city on fire, causing the casualties directly (by beating people) or indirectly (because innocents were in the buses on fire)."

This does not mean Beijing is blameless, however. Mr. Sisci mentions the "old tension between the Han and Uyghurs, sprouting from the lack of a sense of one Chinese nation" and the "growing... ethnic Han nationalism... [that] widens the divide with other minorities." In fact, he says, "Han nationalism kindles and feeds other ethnic groups' nationalism and it all becomes a vicious circle." Beijing is to blame because it fans "Han nationalism and pride to win the support of the rich and powerful Chinese diaspora which supported China's growth in the past three decades."

Importantly, Mr. Sisci highlights the fact that "nationalism came to China around the turn of the 19th century, when Beijing was confronting Western nation-states that, unlike imperial China, had a strong sentiment of state unity." Before that time, he reminds us that "there had been no Han nationalism to speak of." Making matters worse, the monster Mao, by "introducing Soviet-style 'protections' for other nationalities living in China, .... instituted for the first time minute divisions among the ethnic groups living in China, which de facto promoted national and ethnic sentiments that previously were more blurred."

The solution, like those to most modern problems, can be found in pre-modernity. Mr. Sisci suggests, "It is necessary to drop the institution of ethnic nationalities and develop a Chinese dream - inclusive of non-ethnic Han - and to revamp the old imperial idea of huaren, people who belong to the new Chinese culture."

China, it has been pointed out, is not a nation but a civilization, analogous not to a France, a Germany, or even an America but to the Holy Roman Empire, or perhaps more accurately (since China is not united by a common creed), its descendant the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Catholics better than most remember that all hell broke lose after those two political entities were obliterated.

"The Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Church"

Tertullian's famous remark — Sanguis martyrum semen Christianorum — was as true in II^nd Century Rome as it would be in XVIII^th Century Korea, as Hahn Moo-Sook's epic of that era, Encounter, eloquently describes:

Ironically, repeated persecution had unwittingly become the vehicle for the spread of Catholicism. People no longer viewed Christians as creatures baser than animals who served no king, were filial to no parents, and who severed the ethical bonds of human relationships, and shared both wealth and women with each other. Many had now come to believe that among the Ten Commandments , the fifth taught men to be filial and and to respect hierarchical relationships, and two others stressed a severe code of behavior for men and women. People also noticed that even the lowliest among men, in confessing their faith, openly loved and helped others in need. Although most failed to grasp the religion in its entirety, they no longer unconditionally condemned Catholics as enemies of society, as had been decreed by the government.

Some 10,000 Korean Catholics were martyred in the various persecutions before their religion was finally tolerated toward the end of the century. What stands out is that many, perhaps most, never had any access to any of the sacraments, save for the Baptism of Blood administered by their executioners and by which they began their eternal life.

Today, 225 years after the introduction of the Faith, not by foreign missionaries but by Korean scholars returning from China, there are five million Catholics, a tenth of the population of the country.

"Obamageddon"

The LewRockwell.com Blog posts the above video — Gerald Celente on Obamageddon.

"Mourning Michael Jackson, Ignoring the Afghan Dead"

Tom Engelhardt on "the lack of interest our world shows in dead civilians from a distant imperial war" — Are Afghan Lives Worth Anything? May God bless Mr. Engelhardt for the grim work he as undertaken as "the only person in the U.S. who has tried to keep track of the wedding parties wiped out, in whole or part, by American military action since the Bush administration invaded Afghanistan in November 2001."

Ayn Rand vs. J.R.R. Tolkien

Or, Objectivism vs. Anarcho-monarchism; Juliusz Jablecki identifies which author's novel serves as a "much better means for conceptualizing the ideas of freedom" — Tales of Titans and Hobbits. The better novel is the one that "conveys an extremely important and optimistic message, namely that a plurality of many different cultures, languages, societies and visions, all existing together, yet separate and independent of each other, is still viable."

Defending Folk Catholicism (Or, Saint Guinefort, Ora Pro Nobis)

Arturo Vasquez masterfully takes apart an article by a "First Things-ista" he calls "a cross between the snide remarks of a snippy church lady who dislikes people who aren’t as pious as she is and a Victorian gentleman who looks down his nose at the ignorant masses" — On “False Saints”. Mr. Vasquez takes to task the "dead 'cerebral' approach towards hagiography so characteristic of the First World Catholic and the ideological elite of the Church."

Pro-Choice, Anti-Woman

A horrific reminder that "abortion has always worked to the convenience of men and the detriment of women" and that "no one who's given the matter any thought believe[s] that pro-choice equals pro-woman" — How to Get Your Girlfriend to Abort.

Comments made by yours truly noted that "that the single demographic most supportive of a 'woman's right to choose' [is] college-age males" and that "[w]omen had far more 'rights' in the age in which men saw it as a duty to marry their pregnant girlfriends and raise their child, rather than abandon the former and murder the latter."

Vatican State?

Lew Rockwell, citing Carlo Lottieri, reminds us that "while the Vatican is called a state, it is actually a voluntary community" — Is the Vatican a State?

Crucified One or Enlightened One?

Stephen Hand offers a meditation on G. K. Chesterton's suggestion that "he who will not climb the mountain of Christ does indeed fall into the abyss of Buddha" — Chesterton on The Mountain and the Abyss. "The more we really appreciate the noble revulsion and renunciation of Buddha, the more we see that intellectually it was the converse and almost the contrary of the salvation of the world by Christ."

The Career of Robert McNamara

Among the many "tributes," the one offered by Alexander Cockburn to the man most remembered for having "contributed more than most to the slaughter of 3.4 million Vietnamese (his own estimate)" stands out — McNamara: From the Tokyo Firestorm to the World Bank.

Read about the man who "began his services to the military working in Japan as a civilian analyst for Curt LeMay, the psychopathic Air Force general who ordered the raid that produced the Tokyo firestorm," and "went on to run the World Bank, where he presided over the impoverishment, eviction from their lands and death of many millions more round the world."

Why Saddam Lied

The nightmarishly simple answer to the question posed by those neocon holdouts who still insist that the W.M.D. are somewhere to be found turns out to be that "he allowed the world to believe he had weapons of mass destruction because he was worried about appearing weak to Iran" — Honour Among Tyrants.

Mr. Clinton's War

As we reach its tenth anniversary, David Gibbs, author of First Do No Harm: Humanitarian Intervention and the Destruction of Yugoslavia, expertly debunks the myths surrounding this "exemplary case of humanitarian intervention" and "model for future military actions" — Was Kosovo the Good War?

The Asian Century?

"Don't believe the hype about... the dawn of a new Asian age," says Minxin Pei — Think Again: Asia's Rise. "At most, Asia's rise will lead to the arrival of a multi-polar world, not another unipolar one." Read for some brilliant myth-busting.

"Charity in Truth"

Sandro Magister has a condensed version of the latest papal encyclical, which deals with economic themes — Caritas in Veritate. Selected Pages. In the salient paragragh 35, Pope Ratzinger sounds a lot like the great Wilhelm Röpke (who, of course, Lutheran though he was, sounded a lot like earlier popes):

In a climate of mutual trust, the market is the economic institution that permits encounter between persons, inasmuch as they are economic subjects who make use of contracts to regulate their relations as they exchange goods and services of equivalent value between them, in order to satisfy their needs and desires. The market is subject to the principles of so-called commutative justice, which regulates the relations of giving and receiving between parties to a transaction. But the social doctrine of the Church has unceasingly highlighted the importance of distributive justice and social justice for the market economy, not only because it belongs within a broader social and political context, but also because of the wider network of relations within which it operates. In fact, if the market is governed solely by the principle of the equivalence in value of exchanged goods, it cannot produce the social cohesion that it requires in order to function well. Without internal forms of solidarity and mutual trust, the market cannot completely fulfil its proper economic function. And today it is this trust which has ceased to exist, and the loss of trust is a grave loss.

The encycical in its entirety — Caritas in veritate - Encyclical Letter of His Holiness Benedict XVI. Tolle, lege. Some coverage:

• Pope Benedict XVI releases Social Encyclical: Caritas in Veritate


• Benedict XVI explains gifts and limitations of free market economy


• Pope defines real social development, drawing on Paul VI


• Pope highlights 'strong link' between life issues and social ethics in new encyclical


• Pope: encyclical, even globalization in need of a soul


• Time for G-8 to Re-make Broken Promises, Says Caritas


• "Caritas in Veritate": Its Nook in Tradition


• Cardinal: Church Offers Inspiration, Not Politics


• Economy Is Not a Moral-Free Zone


• Encyclical Offers New Vision of Social Issues


• Encyclical's Ancient and New Perspective


• Openness to Life Is Central to True Development


• Prelates: Encyclical Tackles Today's Issues


• A Capitalist or Anti-Capitalist Encyclical?


• Benedict vs the Neocons?

Sŏng Sim Tang (Sacred Heart Hall) Bakeshop in Taejŏn, Korea

Comments from a reader bring to our attention a remarkable story about a business run by Fedes Lim and Amata Kim — After their bakery went up in flames, a Korean catering company rebuilt and renewed its commitment to the principles of the Economy of Communion in Freedom.

The bakery was inherited from Mr. Lim's parents, who, as practicing Catholics, "would distribute the unsold bread to people in need at the end of the day, and soon the news spread that the bakery was selling only fresh bread." After Mr. Lim and his wife "attended a seminar on social issues in the Philippines," they "decided to pay an appropriate salary to each employee" and "would show the balance sheet and [their] tax payments to [their] employees."

After a devasting fire, it was "suggested to [them] that [they] could evade having to pay by telling a lie to the insurance company." Instead, they saw it as "a good opportunity to live [their] Christian faith and not go with the crowd." They conclude, "After 50 years of tradition, the Sung Sim Dang bakeshop now has 140 employees and many, many customers."

The Focolare Movement's Economy of Communion in Freedom has "business owners freely choose to distribute their profits." Following the model, "for-profit businesses generate additional jobs and commit to a three-part division of the profits: 1) for direct aid to people in need; 2) for educational projects to help foster a culture of giving; and 3) for the continued growth and development of the business" — What is the Economy of Communion in Freedom?

Lou Tseng-tsiang (陸徵祥), a.k.a. Dom Pierre-Célestin

Andrew Cusack tells his story, part of Christianity's "long and varied history in China stretching over at least one-and-a-half millenia" — The Prime Minister of China who became a Benedictine Abbot.

Learn about a fascinating man who "was born a Protestant in Shanghai in 1871," "eventually converted to Catholicism," and "bravely stood up to the indignities imposed upon China through the 1919 Treaty of Versailles by refusing to sign the shameful document which sowed the seeds of future disaster." And that was before he "became a Benedictine monk at the abbey of Sint-Andries in Flanders," "was eventually ordained a priest," and finally "appointed [by the Pope] titular abbot of the Abbey of St. Peter in Ghent."

Also of interest are the related thoughts of Professor Zhao Xiao, a comtemporary prominent Chinese economist at the University of Science & Technology Beijing, who describes how he "discovered that there is a foundation of morality behind the American market economy."

The Antiwar Message of The Twilight Zone

Submitted for your approval: Kelley B. Vlahos' essay arguing that the best television show ever "is still ignored by Americans whose guts tell them to avoid the wretchedness of war but who find themselves in it again and again" — 45 Years Later, Serling’s ‘Signposts’ Still Unheeded.

The author notes that "if the true zeitgeist of the period was cloaked fear and paranoia, it was not only due to geopolitical unrest and a proliferating military-industrial complex, but also to the postwar conformity binding much of middle America at the time." However, making mention of the show's "yen to topple a few idols and put America’s sacred cows to the test," she wonders to what extent the show "mirrored the way most Americans were feeling about war and social politics" and even whether it "helped seed a resistance that ultimately ended the Vietnam War a decade – and 58,000 American deaths – later."

Submitted also for your approval, one of "a handful of episodes that were probably considered irreverent – even heretical – given their proximity to the Great War [sic], in which a "young, gung-ho Lt. Katell – on the last day of the war – forc[es] a platoon of American infantry... into a cave to kill a host of injured Japanese," and then, he enters The Twilight Zone — A Quality of Mercy:


Watch 15. The Twilight Zone - A Quality of Mercy in   |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Wal-Mart Welfare

"Of course Wal-Mart’s for a national health service," says the Young Fogey in linking to this observation that "none of the liberal commentators breathlessly celebrating Wal-Mart's 'capitulation' on national health care have even entertained the most parsimonious explanation" — It's the economy (of scale), stupid!

"Wal-Mart is in favor of this because it raises the barriers to entry in the retail market, and hammers Wal-Mart's competition," explains the author, who further notes that "from anti-trust to utilities to you name it, 'big business' has always been the moving force behind the 'progressive' initiatives supposedly intended to bring it to its knees." The author concludes, "Big Government and Big Business are symbiotes."

Linked to earlier on this blog was an article by John Médaille in which he described the giant as "an island of corporate privilege floating on a sea of public subsidies" — Subsidizing Wal-Mart.

[link via A conservative blog for peace]

G. K. Chesterton's Old Liberalism

Ralph C. Wood's essay mentions its subject's "middle-aged scorn for internationalism, puritanism, and imperialism—especially as all three ideologies came to single focus in the new Liberalism of the early 20th century" and that "as an advocate of the old Liberalism, Chesterton found his real inspiration in the great 19th century Liberal authors" — The Virtues and Vices of Chesterton’s Politics. Mentioning "Browning and Stevenson, Ruskin and Carlyle," the author continues:

They were writers unafraid to mount their political pulpits, there to proclaim a patriotism that linked English particularity with an abiding concern for the poor, not as an abstract class but as fellow countrymen. So did Chesterton follow the practice of his literary forebears—thundering, for example, against the jingoism of Kipling, the imperialism of the Boer war, the eugenics efforts to control the “feeble-minded,” as well as the getting-and-spending capitalism that laid waste to England’s powers. “The whole case for Christianity,” he wrote, “is that a man who is dependent upon the luxuries of life is a corrupt man, spiritually corrupt, politically corrupt, financially corrupt. There is one thing that Christ and all the Christian saints have said with a sort of savage monotony. They have said simply that to be rich is to be in peculiar danger of moral wreck.”

[....]

Chesterton regarded the New Liberalism that began to emerge among the Edwardians as a deadly abandonment of the Old Liberal ideals. In alleged concern for the poor, these new liberals were in fact oligarchs and plutocrats who formed a new governing class that held the poor in covert contempt. Like G. B. Shaw and H. G. Wells, liberals now looked to the interventionist state for solutions to inveterate human ills. Their call for efficiency and reform, for progress and success, for cleanliness greater than godliness—these cures struck Chesterton as symptoms of a sickness unto death. These patronizing oppressors of impoverished commoners ignored the actual lives of those whom they sought to help. The wretched objects of governmental largesse thus become pawns and tokens, mere instruments, for realizing the putative goods promoted by the enlightened. “If the barricades went up in our streets and the poor became masters,” Chesterton wrote in his 1906 book on Dickens, “I think the priests would escape, I fear the gentlemen would; but I believe the gutters would simply be running with the blood of philanthropists.”

Among the "vices" alluded to in the title are "his unwavering enthusiasm for the Great War," evidenced by the fact that "despite the death of his brother Cecil in battle, Chesterton registered virtually no protest against the horrors of this most incarnadine war."

The Real Alternative

Patrick Deneen reminds us that "the two great traditions of America – liberalism and conservatism – are really one and the same" and hints at the real alternative by noting that "nothing brings the Left and Right together quicker than a good critique of modernity" — The Alternative Tradition in America.

Obamaspeak

Regardless of one’s political proclivities or whether or not one just happens to like the personable Barack Obama, it’s clear that the president relishes the vague metaphor, adores the illogical argumentative sequence, and luxuriates in making words mean what only yesterday they didn’t. He does not merely redefine words, in fact, but on occasion undefines them, wiping them of their meanings — say, by insisting that words such as conservative and liberal are insignificant. The liberal president surely knows better but, as Orwell wrote, “the great enemy of clear language is insincerity.”

Obama’s language is not clear. It is loopy and lofty and often lubricious, and is precisely the type that Orwell’s famous edict “Good prose is like a window pane” sought to banish. Fortunately, two new collections of Orwell’s essays, Facing Unpleasant Facts and All Art is Propaganda, edited by George Packer, were released late last year, just in time for Election Day; and on page 270 of the latter volume begins the piece “Politics and the English Language,” as effective an inoculation as exists against Obamaspeak’s hardier strains.

Above, an exceprt from Liam Julian's essay — Orwell’s Instructive Errors. The author later cites "Obama’s penchant for smooth distortion of meaning and inclination to relabel things such that the new labels obscure rather than describe."

Ninety Years of Versaillesian Disorder

David A. Andelman argues that the "treaty, largely forgotten even as the world has so frequently been forced to cope with its consequences, set up a new system of global governance" — Versailles, 1919-2009: a new world order’s legacy.

"The legacy of Versailles extends far beyond Iran, or Iraq, even the Balkans," concludes the author. "It is a legacy of greed and hubris, ignorance and selfishness that should serve as a lesson for all governments, all statesmen who seek to impose their blinkered vision on other nations and other peoples."

Codex Sinaiticus

We are now able to view "one of the world’s greatest written treasures," which "offers a window into the development of early Christianity and first-hand evidence of how the text of the Bible was transmitted from generation to generation" — The world’s oldest Bible reunited online.