Elizebeth Bennett:
"I cannot bear to think that he is alive in the world and thinking ill of me."
"I cannot bear to think that there may be a single liberal somewhere in the world thinking ill of me [and associating me with so much riff-raff that exists within the conservative movement]."
Labels: Conservatism, Media
posted by Pro Ecclesia 10:29 AM
10 comments
A convert to the Catholic Church who became Catholic because of a belief in and devotion to the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. * A graduate of Baylor University and the University of Virginia School of Law. * Former Mayor of the Town of Columbia, Virginia. * Married with four children: two boys and two girls. * Primary interests include the Catholic Church, family, Early American History, and law/politics * Primary purpose of this blog is fostering enlightened discussion about the roles played by the institutions of religion, family, and state in our daily lives. * Under the protection of St. Thomas More, martyr, and patron of lawyers, judges, civil servants, politicians, statesmen, and large families (not to mention troubled marriages).
Thomas More, counselor of law and patron of statesmen, merry martyr and most human of saints:
Pray that, for the glory of God and in the pursuit of His justice, I may be able in argument, accurate in analysis, keen in study, correct in conclusion, loyal to clients, honest with all, courteous to adversaries, trustworthy with confidences, courageous in court. Sit with me at my desk and listen with me to my clients' tales. Read with me in my library and stand always beside me so that today I shall not, to win a point, lose my soul.
Pray that my family may find in me what yours found in you: friendship and courage, cheerfulness and charity, diligence in duties, counsel in adversity, patience in pain -- their good servant, and God's first. AMEN.
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Prayer to St. Thomas More for Lawyers and Judges
Dear Scholar and Martyr, it was not the King of England but you who were the true Defender of the Faith. Like Christ unjustly condemned, neither promises nor threats could make you accept a civil ruler as head of the Christian Church.
Perfect in your honesty and love of truth, grant that lawyers and judges may imitate you and achieve true justice for all people. AMEN.
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"Give me the Grace Good Lord, to set the world at naught; to set my mind fast upon Thee and not to hang upon the blast of men's mouths. To be content to be solitary. Not to long for worldly company but utterly to cast off the world and rid my mind of the business thereof."
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Litany of St. Thomas More, Martyr and Patron Saint of Statesmen, Politicians and Lawyers
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"The ordinary acts we practice every day at home are of more importance to the soul than their simplicity might suggest."
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"What does it avail to know that there is a God, which you not only believe by Faith, but also know by Reason: what does it avail that you know Him if you think little of Him?"
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"The things that we pray for, good Lord, give us grace to labour for."
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10 Comments:
Parker and Noonan are particularly prone to "Elizabethanism," having transformed themselves into court columnists over the past eight months.
LOL
Um, did you read Douthat on Kmiec (at a 'round table' that included Kmiec among it's participants, I might add)? He picks his spots, no doubt, but he's quite willing to challenge liberals on pro-life issues, even if he has different beliefs about the proper role of government than you do.
Also, read some of the comments he receives from liberals at the Times web-site; if that's pleasing liberals, I don't know what displeasing them would look like.
John Henry,
First of all, laugh it off. It's a joke.
Second, yes, I saw his evisceration of Kmiec and blogged about it. I gave him kudos for it, but noted that it wasn't quite enough to get him off my s**t list. You can search my blog for the post, if you'd like.
Third, why don't you tell me what my beliefs about "the proper role of government" are vis-a-vis Mr. Douthat? Do you know? It might interest you to know that I've stated on a number of occasions that Mr. Douthat is the one pundit whose political views are probably closest to my own. In fact, I've written it in the comboxes at American Catholic.
What I object to about Mr. Douthat is the air of elitism about him, the fact that he attacks conservatives more than he attacks liberal, and, closely related, his - let's call it a "need" - need to feel accepted by the liberal coastal elites. He's even admitted in writing to having such a bias. You can search my blog for the column, if you'd like.
In fact, what I object to most about Mr. Douthat is the need to seem - to his colleagues on the left - more "reasonable" than all those other riff-raff.
Mind you, I'm all for being reasonable. Reason is part of our faith and every Catholic should seek to put it into practice. It's the need to seem like the "voice of reason", among all the cacaphony of voices, that I object to. The need to frequently call out those that are ostensibly one's own in order not to be too closely associated with all those unpleasant people.
It's the "Hey, liberals, don't blame me. Don't you see how reasonable I can be compared to those nutjobs?" mentality that I find unsavory.
Jay - Well, I guess I'm confused by your criticism. On the one hand, Douthat is criticized quite harshly by liberals for his pro-life stance; and he's criticized by fiscal conservatives and neo-cons as a RINO because he is less concerned about spending/foreign policy positions. Understandably, he criticizes liberals far less than a down-the-line conservative. If you agree with him on this, it's surprising that you object to him not criticizing liberals more. Who he criticizes is a direct result of his substantive policy positions.
As far as a 'need for acceptance' and all that, it certainly hasn't compromised him on the issues that I find important: when was the last time the NYT's had an Op-Ed pointing out that real compromise on abortion can only come after over-turning Roe, or calling out Ted Kennedy for not being as pro-life as his sister, or fairly summarizing a papal encyclical? These are not particularly popular arguments in the milieu of the NYT.
Does he bend over backward on some other issues, perhaps to compensate for this? Probably. But it's a perfectly valid approach for a Catholic concerned about pro-life issues and trying to influence public discourse to take. Try to be as honest and non-ideological as possible on the issues of lesser importance, and take your hits on the issues that you really want to fight for.
Now, my tone here (and in my previous comment) is too serious, but that's mainly because I don't have enough time right now revise it and give it a lighter touch. I'm not particularly concerned about Douthat, per se; but I think there's a good case to be made for his approach to public affairs...mainly, because, well, it's the one I try to take.
"In fact, what I object to most about Mr. Douthat is the need to seem - to his colleagues on the left - more "reasonable" than all those other riff-raff."
Sorry - I was typing and didn't see this comment before I hit publish. Well, this is a stylistic objection, but I think, again, that part of this is a corollary of his substantive policy positions. He's not just trying to appear that he has more in common with most people on the left - and thus is more open to agreement than his colleagues on the right- he actually is.
Now the other part is probably his Harvard/Atlantic/NYT background; that inevitably shows up in his writing and rubs some people the wrong way - fair enough. I'm not much of a populist, having spent basically my whole life within a couple hours of DC (aside from college), so that probably helps explain why I'm less sensitive to that type of thing. It's a blind spot for me, I guess.
"... mainly, because, well, it's the one I try to take."
Yeah, no kidding.
;-)
Douthat's need to appear more reasonable than everyone else just strikes me as being like the "better than thou" kid in the class. Don't like it one bit. Just rubs me the wrong way.
Right on the substance; annoying in the delivery.
"Yeah, no kidding. ;-)"
At the end of "Liar, Liar," which I admit is a pretty crappy movie they have a series of outtakes. In one of them Jim Carrey yells his line, and his co-actor (who had been put up to it by the crew, I believe) screams in response 'over-actor'. Carrey pauses for a second, and then says 'there on to me!'
I had a similar feeling reading your response. ;-)
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