Level Wise

I was going to title this post “Schism and Mental Illness” because my latest encounters with schismatic trads have left me wondering if there isn’t some kind of intrinsic link. For instance, why is it that every schismatic I meet wants to be my spiritual director? I have a spiritual director, thank you. The last straw was when one such fellow, clearly no saint, finally got around to telling me that his own suffering (much of it self-inflicted) is really for the salvation of other sinners like me. He wanted me to thank him, I suppose.

But then, of course, it must be acknowledged that schism does not always lead to religious insanity (Bishop Bernard Fellay of the SSPX seems to be genuinely sane), and that the company of non-schismatics contains no shortage of lunatics either. So this post will have to take another direction.

For those of you who haven’t heard, Charles de Nunzio has entered the company of traditionalist bloggers with his provocative Annals of the 9th Crusade. He is a serious and careful writer to whom the frivolity of blogging must not come easy. Neverthless, you won’t want to miss his early entries. See especially his comments on the cultural import of The Passion of the Christ.

Michael Brendan Dougherty, another talented writer and friend, has launched a new online magazine called The New Fugitive (now defunct!). His essay “How I Became a Paleo-Conservative” should be required reading for every American male under thirty.