Level Wise

To qualify as a paleo-conservative in some circles it seems as though one must enlist in a militant crusade to preserve the “white race”, or at the very least, to maintain “racial distinctions” against whatever threatens to erode them. My response is that a program of maintaining racial distinctions when nature does not cooperate (i.e., when language and religion and geography and immobility are not significant barriers) requires turning the priorities of Catholicism upside down. Similarly, the idea that cultural restoration requires an explicitly race-based nationalism also does violence to Catholic social priorities.

ECR once again has the honor of presenting the commentary of Matt Anger, a traditionalist writer who has investigated the topic with considerably more rigor and seriousness than I have. Although Mr. Anger has the good sense to avoid the undisciplined habit of “blogging”, he has generously agreed to contribute to ECR as time permits.

There’s a certain sadness one gets when coming to the end of a good book. One wants the story to go on, to know that the characters continue to live and that the world they inhabit does not cease to exist. That’s how I felt coming to the end of, for instance, The Lord of the Rings, or Brideshead Revisited, or any number of good books.

And this is why I’ve grown to love the big, thick books with tiny print–because I know I needn’t put the work down permanently after three days because I’ve finished it, but that I can savor the story for weeks. I’ve just begun Sigrid Undset’s Kristin Lavransdatter, a work in three volumes. It’s nice and thick, and will take me a while to get through

Much distributist literature is about securing freedom and independence for Catholic families, and rightly so. Rural living is promoted because it is believed to offer a greater degree of economic independence compared to city life. Distributist writers have noted that during periods of strife and economic hardship, the rural populations, being closer to the land and its resources, have generally been better off than urban dwellers. Food, shelter, and clothing are man’s most basic material needs, and these can only be supplied from the farms and forests of the countryside.

However, the modern distributist-minded homesteader has a bit of a problem. Unlike earlier times, rural dwellers today are as dependent upon the city as city dwellers are dependent upon the country. For better or worse, our “advanced” economy has created a civilization of complex and inescapable interdependence. For the rural dweller, the only way out of his dependence upon the city is to drop out of civilization altogether.

Gerard J. Keane, whom I once had the great pleasure of meeting here in Sacramento, has written widely on the problems of evolution from a Catholic perspective. In this 2001 paper titled The Current State of the Origins Debate here, Mr. Keane summarizes the improbability of an old earth:

Evolutionism is a theory that badly needs refuting, but you’re not going to do it by telling me that the creation of man and the creation of the fruit fly were equally miraculous events …

OK, I promise not to do that.

… nor by asserting vague reservations about the speed of light and the properties of matter.

Here’s something you can tell your sons.

The girl you plan to marry is drop-dead gorgeous. She’s also a virtuous girl who is sweet, kind, and considerate of others. Her intelligence is apparent to all, and her many talents will be of great benefit to your household. While she is neither frivolous nor flighty, she enjoys life and has a wonderful sense of humor. Most importantly, she loves children, and she promises to be a loving and devoted mother. She obviously loves you very much, and I hope and pray that she fills your life with happiness.

The Oslo Airport in Norway has decided to pull the Flowerbomb fragrance by Viktor & Rolf from duty-free shelves.

The Oslo Airport in Norway has decided to pull the Flowerbomb fragrance by Viktor & Rolf from the shelves of its duty-free boutiques.

The grenade-like shape of the Flowerbomb bottle falls into the category of unauthorized items such as “weapons or objects that look like weapons” that cannot pass security controls, explains airport spokesperson to Cosmeticnews.com.

Airport’s security rules in Oslo are very tight.

“Another example is a simple child’s water gun, which is also unauthorized,” spokesperson added.

From here

I find this hilariously funny, could you see any self respecting terrorist pulling this fake ‘grenade’ out of their handbag and threaten to stink out a plane!

Found an article at http://www.anti-feminism.com/ (now deleted!) which counsels men to avoid marriage — or at least to avoid marrying a feminist, which the author deems nearly impossible when it comes to Western women:

“If you want to have children and value the security and love that marriage has the potential to offer then you will vastly lower the risks of marriage by seeking a non-Western woman … As I said before, looking for a wife is a game of numbers and opportunities; it’s just like fishing. Now, the river of the feminist-indoctrinated countries has a high percentage of fish that are poisonous to you, but the river of the traditional countries is largely stocked with healthy and delicious fish. Which river will you choose to fish in? I’m not a hater of Western women and I am not saying this because I believe Western women are evil to the core. The reason that ‘no’ must be considered an option for men thinking of marriage is that the lifestyles, culture and expectations of Western women are now such that its an uphill struggle to successfully marry one. Even if we totally destroyed feminism tomorrow, its effects would continue for years.”

From AP to Enforce High Security Number Plates For Vehicles.

The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to enforce high security number plates for all vehicles in the state.

The new number plates, to be introduced in six months, would also have the chassis and engine numbers of the vehicle, apart from the registration number, according to sources.

Officials of the police and transport departments met recently and decided to introduce the new number plates in view of the increasing naxal attack and vehicle theft problems.

This seems like such a good idea generally, could help reduce the dangers of purchasing a stolen car with a fake car number plates, especially where a same make and model of car is stolen and the plates are switched, so why don’t we have something like this in the UK?

Sometimes this business requires restraint — not one of my strong suits. Today we’re printing a liturgical booklet for a Catholic wedding anniversary (50th). There is, apparently, a Mass in there somewhere. Among the prayers:

“…almighty God and Maker, we worship you…”

“…Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Maker …”

“…in the Glory of God the Maker …”

“Gentle Woman … you were chosen by the Maker; you were chosen for the Son. You were chosen from all women and for woman, shining one.”

“Blessed are you among women, blest in turn all women too.”

The liturgy concludes with an “Apache Wedding Blessing” and a reflection by Helen Steiner Rice.

Different worlds, same Church.

“There are people in Europe who, confounding together the different characteristics of the sexes, would make man and woman into beings not only equal but alike. They would give to both the same functions, impose on both the same duties, and grant to both the same rights; they would mix them in all things–their occupations, their pleasures, their business. It may readily be conceived that by thus attempting to make one sex equal to the other, both are degraded, and from so preposterous a medley of the works of nature nothing could ever result but weak men and disorderly women.

Few things are more likely to arouse the contempt and derision of modern intellectuals — even Catholic intellectuals — than stating one’s belief in a young earth. Today’s image-savy Catholics apparently see the young-earth controversy as an opportunity to prove that they are not wooden fundamentalists or biblical literalists or anti-science or anti-intellectual or anything else considered by the world to be backwards and unsophisticated. It is the mentality of the herd.