Recently, I saw two classic films for the first time; Blade Runner and Network. I enjoyed both, but there was also something intensely sad about them. They both expressed such…hopelessness. They’re very much modern films, that is to say, films made from the perspective of a modernist / progressivist worldview, though a self-reflective one. Blade … Continue reading The Gods of Progress
Thoughts
Authority in the Passion
The concept of authority has been on my mind quite a lot lately. There's a whole lot to delve into there, especially since it's a subject we moderns tend not to understand very well. We tend to think of it as either consented rule (which would make it synonymous with 'counsel' or 'employment') or oppression. … Continue reading Authority in the Passion
The World We Live In
It is, I find, fatally easy to forget what kind of world we live in, especially today. We've got all our gadgets, our (relatively) ordered society, and all the rest of it, so that it becomes only natural to fall into a kind of trance assuming that everything just kind of works and that's all … Continue reading The World We Live In
Gunga Din at ‘The Everyman’
A new 'Everyman' post went up yesterday, talking about Rudyard Kipling's Gunga Din and what it reveals about both his perspective and ours: Now, you cannot think sense about morality unless you get this idea of principles clear, and you cannot get it clear until you can identify what is and is not an equivalent case. The … Continue reading Gunga Din at ‘The Everyman’
Quick Thought of the Day
One of the chief features of modernism is the urge to separate cause and effect; we either love the cause and hate the effect or hate the cause and love the effect. In our hubris, we think that we can have the one without the other, and so we create endless problems for ourselves.
Sunday Thoughts
In addition to being one of the great philosophical minds of human history, St. Thomas Aquinas was also a mystic who experienced visions and ecstasies while in prayer. Near the end of his life, while still working on his magnum opus, the Summa Theologica, he was granted a vision of Christ. When he came out of it, he … Continue reading Sunday Thoughts
Thoughts on ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’
The story behind the Sonic the Hedgehog movie is, in its way, more interesting than the story of the film itself. About a year ago the first trailer dropped, revealing the film's design for the title character. It should be noted that Sonic is one of the top-draw characters of video-game history. His games are not … Continue reading Thoughts on ‘Sonic the Hedgehog’
Unformed Thought: The Shadows of Virtue
Something that needs to be gotten clear if we're going to think rationally about morality is that people are fundamentally consistent. That is to say, with the possible exception of mental illness, a person's intentional actions are all expressions of the same character, and work upon that same singular character. It's like heating a stone … Continue reading Unformed Thought: The Shadows of Virtue
Mass Meditations – Sacrifice and Coronation
Before going to Mass today, I brought up the Enthronement Ceremony for Japanese Emperor Naruhito, intending to watch it later, though I perused a few photos and brief footage from it. In this frame of mind, I went to Mass and a number of thoughts went through my mind. I don't know how much foundation … Continue reading Mass Meditations – Sacrifice and Coronation
Do You Really Want It? – Catholic Match Post
My latest Catholic Match post is on the all-important question of "do you really want what you say you want?" I think a lot of the things we claim to want are in this category. We say we like the outdoors, or that we would like to travel, or that we want a relationship. We … Continue reading Do You Really Want It? – Catholic Match Post
Serpent's Den 