tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35129512011-11-27T18:25:00.821-07:00<p><p>An Amateur Classicist's Review of Political Philosophy, Theology, and Literature, with Occasional Reflections on the Age That Is Passing</p></p>Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.comBlogger12601100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-29563010019430413062011-10-31T17:59:00.000-06:002011-10-31T17:59:00.565-06:00

The Telegraph obituary of career British diplomat Sir Hilary Synnott discusses his observation in Iraq of the revolutionary American mentality: The CPA [Coalition Provisional Authority] itself, he found, was mainly staffed by American policy wonks — “young, naive, pushy people” fired with a messianic zeal rapidly to replace centuries of tribal and religious rivalries and state control with

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-87857304743790283512011-10-10T18:23:00.002-06:002011-10-10T18:50:59.515-06:00

Before Columbus Day became a time for Ward Churchill's followers to flaunt their self-righteous indignation, it was a time for Italian-Americans to remember their heritage and the faith which inspired their countryman on his world-changing voyage. The Denver Catholic Register's archives remind us of this rich history, using the words of many local Italians themselves. The Register's 1988

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-28175164170521500972011-04-17T19:48:00.002-06:002011-04-21T12:56:07.914-06:00

The death of a proposed civil unions bill in the Colorado House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committee deeply angered Tim Gill, the multi-millionaire gay activist whose smartly targeted campaign spending has helped re-shape Colorado politics. Gill’s lawyer Ted Trimpa said Gill will now be spending millions more to defeat Republicans across the state, starting with GOP members of the statehouse,

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-52331181451969654142011-03-25T01:01:00.000-06:002011-03-25T01:01:53.898-06:00

The master aphorist Don Colacho says: "We reactionaries provide idiots the pleasure of feeling like daring avant-garde thinkers." Perhaps he speaks of progressive critics who think they are on a march to enlightenment. They leave backwards thinkers behind. Or perhaps he speaks of his admirers who quote him profusely and deem themselves to be part of a rising cognoscenti.  The entire set of

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-69826591620146455202011-03-20T21:07:00.001-06:002011-03-20T21:15:56.058-06:00

Events begin at 6 p.m. Friday with light soup and conversation at Regis’ Main Hall, Room 333. Actor Richard Austin will deliver a performance of Hopkins’ poetry at 7:30 p.m. Paper presentations begin at 8:15 a.m. Saturday in the same room. Sophia University’s Fr. Peter Milward, S.J., who endured Japan’s massive earthquake, will speak “On the Silences of Newman and Hopkins” at 11 a.m. that day.

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-4215850106756169802011-01-26T19:26:00.006-07:002011-01-26T23:23:29.765-07:00

Sherry Weddell of the Colorado Springs-based Siena Institute has been doing important work on the demographic problems facing American Catholicism. She cites disturbing figures:"Roughly 32% of those raised Catholic have abandoned the identity altogether. An additional 38% of those raised Catholic retain the identity but seldom or never bother to show up. 30% attend Mass at least once a month.

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-65019705531000567142010-12-24T10:43:00.003-07:002010-12-24T10:44:58.542-07:00

Performed by Allison Krauss and Yo Yo Ma(via Western ConfucianMerry Christmas!

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-87122062706954818112010-11-04T20:02:00.005-06:002010-11-04T20:29:49.324-06:00

Peter Hitchens is fond of claiming that the actual purpose of polling is not to measure opinion, but to change it.More justification for that skeptical attitude comes from the Heritage Foundation. It reports that the National Election Pool (NEP) survey ...did not ask respondents if they were married. So instead we found out [2] that “Men with Children” preferred the GOP 58% to 40% while “Women

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-55446510100747316742010-10-19T16:28:00.002-06:002010-10-19T16:30:08.499-06:00

The University of Colorado-Denver professor was caught on video lecturing at the Denver Rotary Club:

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-28497363400200892722010-09-30T01:07:00.009-06:002010-09-30T15:19:18.927-06:00

Last Friday Archbishop Chaput told a gathering of the Religion Newswriters’ Association (RNA) he thinks many of them view religion as a backward social force. He observes a “seeming collusion – or at least an active sympathy – between some media organizations and journalists, and political and sexual agendas hostile to traditional Christian beliefs.”He sure knew what he was talking about!Major

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-16679913883920582882010-09-30T01:00:00.003-06:002010-10-01T12:41:36.806-06:00

Various selections from the Sept. 10 Theology on Tap featuring the Archbishop of Denver, which was monitored by activist media:“Anyone here who hasn’t noticed the despair in the world should go back to sleep, because you’ve been asleep until now,” Chaput commented.“The Church in the United States has done a poor job, a genuinely bad job, of forming the faith and conscience of Catholics for more

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-66241010003931358072010-09-01T18:17:00.004-06:002010-09-01T18:32:30.522-06:00

"The internet never forgets" is one of those commonplaces used to instill fear, but also to comfort. Just remember the right Google keywords, we think, and we can find anything.This is not true. Various algorithms will bury that crucial web page after only a month's time.And human control can bury information, too.I say this because Wikipedia is now considering for deletion its article on the

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-19523265150718558152010-07-31T14:39:00.005-06:002010-07-31T16:00:44.182-06:00

Political thinker and historian Thomas Molnar passed away earlier this month. Those of us who have read through past issues of the Intercollegiate Review and related periodicals often enjoyed his deeply intellectual essays on philosophy, tradition, and modern society.John Zmirak offers his appreciation at ISI, while Andrew Cusack pens his own tribute to Molnar. Cusack writes: "Molnar and his work

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-24533421759611313222010-07-14T10:25:00.003-06:002010-07-14T10:30:48.072-06:00

A laugh break from the depressing topic below:via Summa Minutiae

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-70649734186533542652010-07-09T00:39:00.006-06:002010-07-09T10:13:58.435-06:00

The Easter-time controversies over Pope Benedict XVI's handling of sex abuse flamed out quicker than expected. The New York Times' attacks on the Pope quieted down following reports of exculpatory information in its primary sources, criticism concerning poor and inaccurate reporting, and the revelation that some key documents used in fact originated with a lawyer intending to sue the Vatican.[1]

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-51025124164520487282010-07-01T08:24:00.014-06:002010-07-01T08:24:00.282-06:00

The billowing controversy over Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan's consultation with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) has prompted several reactions. Some see the problem as so severe that it will sink her nomination: political appointees have no business advising a supposedly non-partisan scientific fraternity on their true positions. Jonathan H. Adler at the

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-50725578858207763822010-07-01T01:35:00.002-06:002010-07-01T01:46:18.094-06:00

Among the many philosophical puzzles that can captivate the aspiring thinker is the supposed is-ought problem. Originating with writers like Hume, it criticizes the supposed fallacy that one cannot derive an "ought" of moral obligation from a descriptive "is."Obviously there is truth to this. Just because I am a blogger doesn't mean I ought to be one.But some internet denizens have seized upon

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-35239475855386704182010-06-23T18:34:00.002-06:002010-06-23T18:40:04.717-06:00

Technology will not tolerate any judgment being passed on it. Or rather: Technologists do not easily tolerate people expressing an ethical or moral judgment on what they do.But the expression of ethical, moral and spiritual judgments is actually the highest freedom of mankind....So whatever I say about technology and about technologists themselves is unimportant to them.It won't deter them from

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-27947443035893071482010-06-06T22:53:00.002-06:002010-06-06T22:59:54.405-06:00

Jesse Ventura's election as Minnesota governor was hailed as a refreshing change from the status quo.As an independent, he was soon trapped in the gridlock of a friendless capitol and quit politics in disgust.Now a host for a television show examining conspiracy theories, he seems to be discredited one-off. Any politician seriously proposing 9-11 "truther" arguments is doomed to become a footnote

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-15651771928213264842010-05-21T01:26:00.004-06:002010-05-23T06:24:39.193-06:00

Colorado Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott McInnis’ chief communications director is Sean Duffy. A former deputy chief-of-staff for Gov. Bill Owens, Duffy supported the same-sex “domestic partnership” referendum on the 2006 ballot.A December 2006 article in National Review claimed that Duffy was hired for the referendum effort by Tim Gill, Colorado’s wealthy homosexual activist who with

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-22059828505019968082010-05-19T15:38:00.003-06:002010-05-19T15:41:06.026-06:00

The U.S. government's attempts to promote abortion are well known enough. The Cairo conference, population control efforts, and Mexico City PolicyLess known are the U.S. government's efforts to promote Islam, such as its ensuring that Islam was recognized in the Iraqi constitution.And now the Obama administration has combined the two efforts, in the president's ancestral homeland no less.The

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-23086086433240257312010-05-12T00:00:00.006-06:002010-05-12T00:36:28.260-06:00

Former U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez's endorsement of retired Navy officer Lang Sias has perplexed Ben DeGrow of the People's Press Collective, who supports Ryan Frazier as the GOP candidate for CD-7.In his comments, DeGrow sees the endorsement as a sign of Beauprez's dwindling relevance. In my view, he wrongly interprets the former Congressman's praise for Sias as an attack on Frazier. It could more

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-89678684555990072172010-04-24T14:17:00.004-06:002010-04-24T14:39:13.622-06:00

The conservative is the "opposite of an ideologue." He is "profoundly aware" of human sinfulness, including among his own country and people, historian John Lukacs says in this interview:Highlights:"Patriotism is essentially defensive. Nationalism is aggressive. And our conservatives are nationalists, not patriots."A reactionary is "somebody who thinks the clock has to be put back sometimes.""

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-6092251935965410812010-04-22T00:54:00.004-06:002010-04-22T01:17:41.668-06:00

The Transportation Security Administration has a helpful guide on service animals:When a monkey is being transported in a carrier, the monkey must be removed from the carrier by the handler prior to screening,The monkey must be controlled by the handler throughout the screening process.The monkey handler should carry the monkey through the WTMD while the monkey remains on a leash.When the handler

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-8080975918115049352010-03-29T20:19:00.005-06:002010-03-29T20:39:02.939-06:00

The allegations about Pope Benedict XVI's handling of sexual abuse cases, discussed below, have produced astonishing press misrepresentations which have traversed the world. There is a building narrative about the "intransigent pontiff indifferent to abuse claims." This false narrative needs to be halted both by those who care about the Catholic Church and by those who care about the credibility

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-29506246274398504962010-03-29T20:10:00.004-06:002010-03-29T20:52:47.727-06:00

The NY Times' recent story about Pope Benedict focused on records indicating that a sex abuser priest named Fr. Hullermann was transferred while the Pope was Archbishop of Munich 30 years ago. That monstrous cleric abused again and again. As the allegations of oversight mount, some editorialists see a death knell for Benedict's papacy. But as with Reuters' claims that the Pope is "not intimidated

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-55145951764980994152010-03-29T18:21:00.003-06:002010-03-29T18:25:51.922-06:00

As the flaws of the Western Roman Empire became too great to sustain, St. Augustine wrote:'So long as it [the republic] survives,' they say, 'so long as it prospers, rich in resources, self-confident in victory, or, better still, secure in peace, what difference does it make to us? What matters is that there is money to be made to support our lavish style of life, and to give the stronger their

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-29365329351234785472010-03-24T17:40:00.004-06:002010-03-24T17:49:31.750-06:00

Joining the social networking trend of 2009, the Vatican has a twitter feed, according to Catholic News Agency. Its account name is unpoetic but functional: News_Va_enHaving noticed the Italian-language announcement from Vatican Radio by way of Paolo Rodari, I was among the English-language feed's first twenty followers. However, I made the mistake of breaking the news via Twitter alone, not

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-35670008021004960292010-03-18T16:05:00.008-06:002010-03-18T17:14:09.355-06:00

Here's how Twitter can amplify the consequential media mess accompanying the health care debate.NETWORK, a group claiming to represent 59,000 Catholic religious sisters, endorses the Senate bill.The AP reports this endorsement, also reporting their claimed size.White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs then tweets the AP story to 38,000 people, calling it an "IMPORTANT HEALTH CARE ENDORSEMENT." (

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-47334037019287094712010-03-14T23:21:00.001-06:002010-03-15T01:59:28.345-06:00

The Independence Institute’s Jon Caldara recently hosted a debate on social conservatism on his PBS KBDI 12 show Independent Thinking. His two guests were State Sen. Ted Harvey, a Republican representing the south Denver suburb of Highlands Ranch, and Kevin Miller of the National Freedom Initiative, a new think tank.Miller’s argument, also presented in a November newsletter of the Centennial

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-17644398712856143102010-03-10T09:58:00.004-07:002010-03-10T10:25:20.990-07:00

A disturbing comment on an interview with Patrick Deneen:My brother once worked for a bank in the American Midwest. He was present at a meeting in which the board, all serious, believing Christians, discussed the need to increase lending opportunities in the Hispanic community by breaking down family ties. The Hispanic habit of communal saving and paying in cash was incompatible with the growth

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-86872452799236156332010-02-18T16:55:00.002-07:002010-02-18T17:04:39.122-07:00

Last week when Rep. Spencer Swalm (R-Centennial) discussed the problem of family formation and welfare expenses. This inevitably sparked another minor controversy in the state legislature. "Don't have kids out of wedlock," he said from the House floor. "If you're married, if at all possible, trya to stay married. Those are ways to lift families out of poverty."He added that intact families do

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-5161771567445418802010-02-04T16:56:00.002-07:002010-02-04T17:09:12.573-07:00

The 21st Annual Colorado Cowboy Poetry Gathering, a continuing Stock Show tradition, was held at the Arvada Center last month.Among the performers were Connie Dover, who accompanied NPR regular Skip Gorman. Despite her hoarse throat, the quality was undeniable.A sample of her work in the Celtic genre:The Western half of "Country & Western" has always outperformed the southern Country variety, but

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-79936317625608792122010-01-25T15:51:00.005-07:002010-01-25T16:06:20.943-07:00

Fred Phelps' Westboro Baptist Church has announced it is protesting outside the venue of the debate between Maggie Gallagher and Jonathan Rauch tonight.This will have the benefit of making Ms. Gallagher look like the moderate she is.However, the debate will show a gaping hole between Gallagher's position and Phelps' that needs to be filled in public debates like this. You know the same-sex "

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-18530570102110544782010-01-25T15:25:00.006-07:002010-01-26T16:46:09.122-07:00

This story happens every year. The mainstream media doesn’t cover the March for Life enough. And when it does, its coverage is incompetent or biased.These complaints happen every year too. Why is that?It’s not the journalists’ job to report on every event in Washington. They have a world to cover.However, it is the job of pro-life leaders to secure as much accurate and favorable media coverage as

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-81589317024900472392010-01-13T16:13:00.010-07:002010-01-25T17:15:31.903-07:00

UPDATE: This could get interesting.* Fred Phelps' crew is heading to Boulder for the debate.*As James Poulos has noted: "The interesting is not the good." ====On Monday, January 25, the Aquinas Institute for Catholic Thought, the intellectual outreach arm of the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Center, will hold the third annual “Great Debate” on the University of Colorado campus and host

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-51350980243407656242010-01-06T17:53:00.005-07:002010-01-06T18:03:09.861-07:00

With the happy link from the First Thoughts blog to the post below, I will take the opportunity to note that the Denver First Things Readers' Group will meet this Tuesday at 7:00 in the west Denver home of our organizer.His contact details are at the FirstThings.com ROFTERS page.Twitter cross-references: @MicahMattix @ROFTERS @DRDRF @kevinjjones

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-86738502455199456112010-01-02T06:07:00.001-07:002010-01-02T06:07:00.223-07:00

The trailer: Percy's novels and essays drew upon the oddity and despondency of modern life. At a time when every basic need seems met, when man can spy across the globe and amuse himself to death, man can think himself more miserable and solitary than ever. In this paradox of success, Percy saw proof of man's transcendence. There the novelist found leverage for a Christian, existentialist

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-87210227505608910232009-12-15T16:08:00.008-07:002009-12-15T23:24:32.907-07:00

In the latest oddity of our fear-driven age, a second grader in Taunton, Mass. has been suspended over a drawing of Jesus and told to undergo psychological evaluation (at his parents' expense).His artwork:"...because he put Xs in the eyes of Jesus, the teacher was alarmed and they told the parents they thought it was violent," an educational consultant with the Associated Advocacy Center told the

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-73230149853248517522009-12-15T10:00:00.004-07:002009-12-15T10:08:48.164-07:00

Joe Carter discusses the economics of being an author.Prospects are not good:950,000 titles out of the 1.2 million tracked by Nielsen Bookscan sold fewer than 99 copies. Another 200,000 sold fewer than 1,000 copies. Only 25,000 sold more than 5,000 copies. The average book in America sells about 500 copiesOne author says her net profit on a NY Times bestselling book currently stands at $24,517.36

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-85762107673073566452009-11-07T10:51:00.003-07:002009-11-07T10:55:04.260-07:00

I see that Inside Catholic has republished my complaint about indecency in the local library, Neighborhood Pornucopia.Welcome to new visitors! Action at this blog is quite slow this year. Those interested in recent activity should see my Twitter page.

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-76818703541822274932009-11-07T10:37:00.004-07:002009-11-07T10:50:43.494-07:00

Fr. Athanasius Kircher, SJ, was a genuine Renaissance Man of the 17th century. A logician, a mathematician, a vulcanologist, a phonologist, an Egyptologist... His position as "alpha scholar" is secure enough. Just read what New Advent and Wikipedia have to say of his accomplishments.Now Western Confucian points us to a Tarantella dance he composed:"With all his learning and vast amount of

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-36440493180870044622009-10-16T17:13:00.003-06:002009-10-16T17:50:19.431-06:00

A relative's trip to Oregon and back brought me a souvenir: The Black Irish Band album "Into the Arms of the Sea." (MP3 and CD)Though on the opposite coast, these musicians have compiled an enjoyable set of Maritime music from the New England seaboard. Some of their songs are a capella. At their best, the band truly sounds like it is on the deck of a seaward ship.A few songs are reliable classics

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-1859028736841449332009-09-30T13:00:00.008-06:002009-12-08T10:12:48.801-07:00

A law professor nominated by President Obama to become a commissioner for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission was a signatory to a radical 2006 manifesto which endorsed polygamous households and argued traditional marriage should not be privileged “above all others.”So reports CNA in its story "Obama EEOC nominee signed radical marriage manifesto that praised polygamy" about Georgetown

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-6886372677758398052009-09-16T14:52:00.003-06:002009-09-16T14:55:14.353-06:00

For the previous few months my activity has been focused at Twitter. More substantial posting will resume at Philokalia Republic sometime in the future.

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-55975072628175565402009-08-20T16:54:00.005-06:002009-08-20T17:20:03.898-06:00

San Diego playwright Cathal Gallagher recently spoke about his plays and his efforts to advance Catholic drama. While movies cost millions to make, plays are the “grassroots of entertainment,” Gallagher told Catholic News Agency. He rightly noted that such works can have a “profound impact” on college and high school students.His play "Viva Cristo Rey!" about the Jesuit priest and martyr Blessed

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-67235601655961738912009-08-18T18:20:00.005-06:002009-08-18T18:38:02.099-06:00

Earlier this year, Connecticut witnessed the proposal of ominous legislation that would have forcibly reorganized the Catholic Church and crowded out bishops and clergy in favor of lay-run boards. The backers of the bill were apparently channeling the plans of the would-be Catholic reform group Voice of the Faithful.In an additional hint of the “culture war” being waged, both sponsors of the

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-64067798446430044372009-08-10T16:25:00.005-06:002009-08-10T16:39:39.707-06:00

Chris Roach, commenting at What's Wrong with the World, reports his horrible experience with the scandal of hospice care: Medicare typically pays only for a few weeks of hospice care on the theory that it's for the dying, not the merely very sick. So folks sent into hospice are essentially drugged up on halidol, rendered unconscious, and then dehydrated and starved to death. Disoriented and

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-41919584402774532032009-07-18T15:26:00.003-06:002009-07-18T15:49:59.599-06:00

The Frenchman Louis Dutens writes from 1806 on France before the Revolution:“Formerly I went frequently to Paris: I saw often many of those who were called ‘the philosophers’. It was particularly at Madame Geoffrin’s, Baron d’Holbaek’s, and d’Alembert’s, where they principally assembled. It was there that they silently planned the destruction of religion, of the clergy, the nobility, and the

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-86334013553439636302009-07-18T15:00:00.000-06:002009-07-18T15:48:29.482-06:00

When I read Robert P. George's _Making Men Moral_ in college I thought it was one of the best intellectual challenges to the superficial libertarian spirit of our time. Now his work is 15 years old and has won for itself a retrospective conference.Micah Watson summarizes the gathering, while audio files of the lectures are available at the conference web site.

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-27686890705620370902009-07-11T13:29:00.002-06:002009-07-11T13:35:01.442-06:00

An amusing display of national pride and mockery of neighbors. I know of nothing similar in the U.S. music industry, which is mired in embarrassed irony.

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-75234825199886823722009-07-07T00:22:00.005-06:002009-07-07T00:50:06.443-06:00

The first person who said "there is no such thing as bad publicity" likely was an incompetent PR man trying to spin his way out of some mess he made.One such ridiculous mess comes from Electronic Arts, which funded fake Christian protests of its Dante's Inferno game. The protesters "passed out amateurish material and held signs bearing slogans such as 'Trade in Your PlayStation for a PrayStation,

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-39219475731753991222009-06-29T09:54:00.002-06:002009-06-29T10:00:26.832-06:00

Christopher Tollefsen in his spring lecture at CU-Boulder noted this bit of scholastic humor from St. Thomas Aquinas' Summa Theologiae I.i.1 Art. 8:If [sacred doctrine] is argued from authority, it seems unbefitting its dignity, for the proof from authority is the weakest form of proof... according to Boethius.Curiously, New Advent's edition of the Summa omits this geeky self-parodying joke. The

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-89499571214362514872009-06-22T15:44:00.001-06:002009-06-22T15:45:58.424-06:00

Last month Patrick Deneen discussed the contradictions of the rootless academic who is caught in the trap of inauthenticity: he propounds a life of “localism and community” on the internet and in the academy, two institutions which tend to dissolve what he professes to love.Criticisms of would-be localists are easy to write: some haven’t been home in years. They murmur about loving “the idea of

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-15224115874650698742009-06-08T20:15:00.002-06:002009-06-08T20:20:01.630-06:00

The D.C. Interns blog sums up its target:Over the next three months you have paper runs, coffee runs, and envelope licking to fill your days. As a consolation prize, you will be provided an intern badge, conveniently red, fashioned as your scarlet letter. This will identify your status to all of DC. A status that you interpret as “important” and we interpret as “tired” and “obnoxious.”Aiming to

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-86294400182592834342009-06-08T07:24:00.004-06:002009-06-08T07:35:36.096-06:00

Bishop Roger L. Kaffer, auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Joliet, died at the end of May.Now is as good a time as any to note that I helped edit Bishop Kaffer's forthcoming book from Basilica Press, "Common Sense Catholicism." Though I only spoke with the bishop two or three times, I sensed that he and his book reflected a deep and simple piety.In our time when churches and the popular culture

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-40879116706149921632009-05-28T09:38:00.004-06:002009-05-28T09:44:39.876-06:00

According to the 5280 blog, Andrew Bacevich will speak at the Tattered Cover in LoDo tonight at 7:30.See also the Downtown Denver Examiner.

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-52552025151168187612009-04-22T19:30:00.002-06:002009-04-22T19:35:32.744-06:00

On the Internet, transhumanism may be belittled as much as it is praised. Its science fiction dreams predict artificial intelligence, immortality through computing, and the wholesale re-engineering of mankind. Rev. David B. Hart described it as “a sensibility formed more by comic books than by serious thought.”But its proponents are generally technology lovers who believe that foul devil Progress

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-66008426657583999902009-04-22T01:37:00.004-06:002009-04-22T01:44:59.372-06:00

Recently New Advent has been linking to the blog of Dr. Patrick McNamara, Church historian and assistant archivist at the Diocese of Brooklyn.His posts feature brief profiles of important figures, historical summaries and also original sources.To start with, here is Dr. McNamara's description of colonial America's Maryland Tradition in American Catholicism, "a tradition that stressed interfaith

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-28374686126921590632009-04-15T22:27:00.004-06:002009-04-15T22:48:28.380-06:00

Recently I mentioned the need for Catholic communities to produce more committed student and academic leaders to reform both Catholic and secular institutions of higher education.Happily, some student leaders are already emerging in reaction to the University of Notre Dame's controversial commencement invitation to President Barack Obama.The Notre Dame Response Student Coalition (ND Response),

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-40567204734522045002009-04-15T19:50:00.003-06:002009-04-15T20:01:30.345-06:00

Damon Linker recently argued that orthodox Christianity is “unsuitable” for American pluralism. He argued that the “anodyne, inoffensive, tolerant” approach ofmoralistic-therapeutic deism should replace what remains of public Christianity. Its vague exhortations to Niceness and Self-esteem are supposedly more fitting for a society in which some people “feel like second-class citizens for failing

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-57295039694374020542009-04-14T16:12:00.004-06:002009-04-14T16:25:45.344-06:00

Now making the rounds is a Department of Homeland Security document called Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment. Michelle Malkin, who claims to have verified the origin of the report, makes a point about the document's treatment of amorphous and unnamed “extremist groups”:I have covered DHS for many years and am quite

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-28626078336934883002009-04-13T15:04:00.005-06:002009-04-13T15:12:57.519-06:00

The announcement of President Barack Obama’s invitation to give the commencement speech at Notre Dame is the occasion of the latest furore among internet Catholics.The site Notre Dame Scandal has gathered more than 260,000 signatures protesting the invitation, including my own.Considering the president’s immovable and extreme position on abortion, the protesters have just cause for their ire.Yet

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-69772605658802391932009-04-01T20:43:00.008-06:002009-04-02T01:04:42.071-06:00

Not only is USCIRF's Iraq recommendation being overlooked. So is its web security.See the hack in action:(Click for larger screenshot)The ringtone and medication spam are viewable in Google's search results and in Google's cache, but not on the site proper.This U.S. government site is a victim of the spam link injection hack. One victim provides further information on the attack, writing:The

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-63106352490429249572009-03-31T05:42:00.001-06:002009-03-31T13:58:08.996-06:00

In December 2008 the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released its Report of the United States Commission on Religious Freedom on Iraq (PDF). The report recommended that Iraq be designated as a Country of Particular Concern (CPC) because of its “ongoing severe abuses of religious freedom and based on the Iraqi government’s toleration of these abuses as described in this

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-16322828381013513772009-03-26T20:49:00.003-06:002009-03-26T23:11:34.858-06:00

Philosopher Ed Feser over at What's Wrong with the World is tearing into the intellectual shortcomings of certain atheist books.Asked about the distinction between Paley's design argument and St. Thomas Aquinas' Fifth Way, he obligingly answered:Teleology can be either inherent in the nature of a thing (as an acorn has an inherent tendency to become an oak) or imposed from outside (as the

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-30613110140668304452009-03-23T15:46:00.007-06:002009-03-24T21:30:43.874-06:00

America's Future Foundation's Denver affiliate is sponsoring a panel discussion on the topic Is Capitalism Dead?. Panelists include Conor Friedersdorf, of the late Culture11, Gene Healy of the Cato Institute and Ross Kaminsky.The discussion will begin at 7 pm at the Denver Art Museum on March 26, after an hour of drinks. I have yet to attend an AFF event.-------Also on March 26, novelist and

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-55483134498673830232009-03-21T13:17:00.004-06:002009-03-21T13:39:39.956-06:00

Today in Detroit Archbishop Chaput attacked Catholics' indifferent complacency and warned Catholics not to delude ourselves about "what we have allowed ourselves to become.""November showed us that 40 years of American Catholic complacency and poor formation are bearing exactly the fruit we should have expected," he began, continuing:...too many Catholics just don’t really care. That’s the truth

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-84420129103740740782009-03-17T05:28:00.006-06:002009-03-17T16:55:31.330-06:00

Many traditional conservative critiques of capitalist and business ideology emphasize that these encourage an amputated view of man, reducing him only to his desires and choices. This reductionist ethos tends to cut off the individual from his family, his history, his country and even his God. The same ethos has direct bearing on cultural conflicts surrounding sex and bioethics, where lifestyle

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-21801187811170125562009-03-17T05:13:00.003-06:002009-03-17T06:04:01.331-06:00

The U.S. Catholic bishops' publication of the 2008 Annual Report on the Implementation of the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People presents the opportunity to compare the U.S. bishops’ press releases on the two most recent reports and to consider how they summarize the original reports.Examination reveals an increase in the number of allegations concerning abuse of those under

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-9586661927276721312009-03-12T01:00:00.004-06:002009-03-12T01:22:03.219-06:00

The foibles and flaws of Evangelical Christian subculture are hard to miss in the art it produces. Its movies are often forgettable dramas marred by trite plots, two-dimensional characters and unearned moralism. Its contemporary music is often derivative in all the wrong ways, following rather than forging musical styles while writing lyrics which depict the Savior as an object of a high school

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-22940615932654372152009-03-04T17:09:00.007-07:002009-03-04T21:25:20.445-07:00

The aftermath of the Bush Administration has exposed for embarrassment and grief the various problems of movement conservatism. Its substitution of fear and ideology for prudence, its facile sloganeering, and its herd-like antipathy towards self-criticism have left thousands of Americans and foreigners dead or in penurious exile.In a different and so far lesser disaster, these failings helped

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-2952103718537647562009-03-01T15:21:00.004-07:002009-03-01T15:28:22.874-07:00

"There are no facts, only interpretations."   -Frederich Nietzsche, Notebooks"There is no reality, only perception."Strategy: Identify the filters through which you view the world. Acknowledge your history without being controlled by it."   -Dr. Phil McGraw, Life Law #6

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-68494046241265086262009-02-27T18:06:00.006-07:002009-02-27T19:22:29.970-07:00

With an easy victory last November, the Second Congressional District's Jared Polis became the first openly homosexual man to be elected to Congress after spending more than $5 million of his own money on his campaign.In CD-2, which includes Boulder and surroundings, the election came down to the Democratic primary.One Polis primary ad featured strange displays of pixelized public nudity.Polis'

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-36794059706664427032009-02-04T17:02:00.001-07:002009-02-04T17:56:37.755-07:00

Any news watcher has noticed the tempest that has accompanied Pope Benedict XVI’s lifting of the excommunications upon the bishops of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) and the revelation that SSPX Bishop Richard Williamson made some foolish and inexcusable remarks that minimized the extent of Jewish suffering in the Holocaust.The media firestorm consistently misrepresented the Vatican’s remission

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-228269789564544052009-01-29T23:45:00.004-07:002009-03-26T23:06:21.232-06:00

After a hiatus of one year, the Denver Hopkins Conference returns to Regis University this March 27 – 29.The conference schedule is here while More information here, while the poet's collected works are reproduced here.His vivid "Pied Beauty" is a favorite I've committed to memory:GLORY be to God for dappled things— For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow; For rose-moles all in stipple

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-73403395934451160312009-01-28T02:02:00.005-07:002009-01-30T12:07:59.433-07:00

Monday’s Religion vs Atheism debate by Dinesh D’Souza and Christopher Hitchens, summarized at Catholic News Agency, was generally uneventful. Few old arguments were punctured and few new debating points were posed.While Hitchens brought greater charisma to the stage, neither disputant was a clear winner. By comparison, D’Souza roundly trounced evolutionary philosopher Daniel Dennett’s pathetic

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-32301063940871011762009-01-11T22:19:00.002-07:002009-01-11T22:23:01.025-07:00

With Gov. Sarah Palin’s entry on the national scene came increased national attention those with Down syndrome. Her infant son Trig, a human interest story in his own right, prompted several columnists to use his fame as an opportunity to reflect upon the place of the disabled in U.S. society.Michael Gerson, for instance, produced Trig’s Breakthrough, a sympathetic piece lamenting the “eugenic

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-42685581694134949582009-01-09T15:07:00.004-07:002009-01-28T15:20:36.306-07:00

CNA reports:Two influential speakers will face off at the University of Colorado in a debate titled: "What’s so Great About God? – Atheism vs. Religion." The debate, organized by the school’s Aquinas Institute for Catholic Thought, will feature Dinesh D’Souza and Christopher Hitchens presenting their cases for and against organized religion, its influence on world history and impact on current

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-55704242912704773542008-12-24T01:36:00.004-07:002008-12-24T01:48:08.885-07:00

Forty years ago, broadcasting from lunar orbit, the astronauts William Anders, Jim Lovell, and Frank Borman read the first ten lines of Genesis in a live television broadcast.Writing from the good Earth, forty years later, I too wish a Merry Christmas to you all!

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-21693011036777130112008-12-23T23:56:00.001-07:002008-12-24T01:35:41.310-07:00

Looking at my posting statistics, I was surprised to find that 2008 marks the least active year for Philokalia Republic since its first year in 2002. There are perhaps a dozen half-finished posts in the queue and perhaps five dozen blog comment debates I’ve started but never completed.I thank my long-time readers for continuing to patronize this blog, and I assure newcomers that more productive

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-52287196575857213002008-12-19T15:56:00.004-07:002008-12-19T16:45:09.837-07:00

Perhaps R.R. Reno and Patrick Deneen have been reading each other. In his November entry Thinking Critically about Critical Thinking Deneen echoes Reno's concerns about that educational buzzword and its admirers.Likewise lamenting critical thinking's self-exemption from critique, he delivers a reflection on the "Canon Wars" of the 1980s: ...those debates have been decidedly won by the party that

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-23053367598162321362008-12-16T00:26:00.002-07:002008-12-16T00:36:26.240-07:00

Back in September, Creighton University’s Prof. R.R. Reno lectured at the University of Colorado at Boulder, discussing how “critical thinking” can actually corrupt intellectual life.Of course, this is counterintuitive on its face. What intelligent person doesn’t want to be a critic in some area of expertise? But Reno, with depth and insight, subjected critical thinking itself to criticism.He

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-9390728555348862592008-12-12T00:26:00.000-07:002008-12-12T00:27:02.157-07:00

So Barack Obama calls up Gov. Blagojevich to ask him to spare the nation grief and step down.“Yeah, I can resign…” the governor said. “But it’ll cost ya!”

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-17632311472503365002008-12-11T17:20:00.007-07:002009-09-30T12:55:37.981-06:00

Lisa Miller’s amateurish Newsweek opinion piece arguing for a Biblical basis for same-sex “marriage” has deservedly attracted much criticism. Miller’s essay, Our Mutual Joy was an easy takedown.Representative of the quality of her argument is this passage: “It probably goes without saying that the phrase ‘gay marriage’ does not appear in the Bible at all.”That “probably” is an unintentional,

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-142657193919595502008-12-08T16:28:00.004-07:002008-12-09T12:44:50.586-07:00

This Tuesday marks the anniversary of the attacks on the Youth with a Mission dormitory (not three miles from my Arvada home) and New Life Church in Colorado Springs. Had Matthew Murray not been stopped by a security guard’s bullet, the number of victims slain could have reached the double digits.Some of us went to church that Sunday evening wondering if the violence was over. “Could an unknown

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-6270312552617131872008-11-29T16:23:00.003-07:002008-11-29T16:30:55.950-07:00

A letter of advice to U.S. social conservatives comes to us from Prof. John Haldane, an analytic Thomist from the University of St Andrews. In his Letter to America on the Future of Social Conservatism, published at The Public Discourse, he warns social conservatives not to deceive themselves that Republican failures were not a cause behind their recent defeat in the election. Counseling social

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-46527859415230622882008-11-06T12:42:00.002-07:002008-11-06T12:46:48.333-07:00

For Denver locals:Professor-Author Stanley Hauerwas will deliver his lecture “Discipleship as a Craft: the Church as Disciplined Community” at 7 p.m. on Monday, November 17 at Bonfils Hall at the John Paul II Center, 1300 S. Steele St. Tim Gray, president of Denver ’s Augustine Institute, says:“This is a rare opportunity to listen to one today’s most influential Christian thinkers!"There is no

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-6990474795120257252008-10-28T16:44:00.004-06:002008-11-29T16:35:08.532-07:00

Yale, putting a fraction of its endowment to good use, has launched the Open Yale Courses web site.Containing free video and audio files of professors' lectures, the site is the answer to a technologist's dream of cheap, high-quality education for everyone with an internet connection.Right now I am working my way through Prof. Stephen B. Smith's Introduction to Political Philosophy. Like my

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-47630200843560902262008-10-28T16:33:00.002-06:002008-10-28T16:43:40.353-06:00

The rapid march of technology has outpaced our ethical judgment. We have blundered into a confusing world of in-vitro fertilization, human cloning, and embryonic stem cell research. We ask ourselves: what is the human embryo, and how should we treat it?Into this disputed realm strides Colorado's Amendment 48, which would grant legal personhood to every human being from the moment of fertilization

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-26277698844664220282008-10-21T21:55:00.003-06:002008-10-21T22:58:10.186-06:00

The blogger Deogolwulf has posted to his blog what he claims to be the first complete English translation of Prince Metternich's Political Testament.The text itself is directed to historians, advising them which archives are pertinent to the statesman's deeds and giving them a few autobiographical notes. "I made history and therefore did not find time to write it," Metternich says, offering a few

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-38472831863148280622008-10-21T21:29:00.003-06:002008-10-21T21:55:39.149-06:00

Noting Tony Campolo's comments at the Democrats for Life Town Hall concerning the number of Americans divided between the pro-life and pro-choice camps, we noted: some of the “pro-choice” people referenced by Campolo don’t approve of legalized abortion in most cases, while some of the pro-lifers make exceptions of their own.A new Knights of Columbus survey backs this contention. CNA reports:Only

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-11460430505389479222008-10-10T10:10:00.004-06:002008-10-10T10:32:09.131-06:00

Catching CNN during a lunch break yesterday, I witnessed their coverage of a McCain town-hall meeting. One man asked McCain:Well, first of all, thank you both for all you're doing for our country. I wanted to ask you about -- about the issue of abortion, and specifically about the debate a couple of nights ago. The moderator cleverly never brought this -- the question up.And with the debate

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-75092514817403834682008-10-08T02:34:00.006-06:002009-05-19T11:07:57.682-06:00

The Democratic National Convention was a great experience for me and for the city of Denver, though many of its consequences for the Democrats won’t be known for years.The Sunday the convention began, I was informed that Catholic News Agency's credentials application had been approved after we were wait listed following an initial denial. Hurrying downtown, I collected my credentials. Clueless

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-51294089340171544972008-10-08T02:07:00.008-06:002008-10-08T17:24:36.214-06:00

The Women’s Caucus meeting held the final day of the Democratic National Convention proved newsworthy. There, several speakers exhorted the crowd to encourage women to run for office. Obligingly, several young women in my social circles have been asked whether they have considered doing so. As the ladies in my social circles tend to be disgruntled conservative Democrats, the Women’s Caucus

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-83825823975393013532008-10-08T01:56:00.008-06:002009-09-30T12:57:11.550-06:00

As one who is occasionally optimistic about the state of the Democratic Party, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered (LGBT) Caucus was disillusioning for me. I found that the newest faction of politicized sexual liberation is well-organized, well-funded, and willing to use raw power when it can.Even so, it was surprising how some speakers played to the melodramatic stereotypes attributed

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-20500060878752052092008-10-08T01:40:00.008-06:002008-10-08T17:26:38.302-06:00

The Democrats for Life Town Hall took place on Wednesday of the DNC week at the Hotel Monaco.The room was small and had a seating capacity of perhaps sixty. Here is a picture taken from the second-to-last row: Sadly, many of the seats were taken not by delegates but by media. E.J. Dionne of the Washington Post was present, as were Jonathan Last, Jim Antle, Tim Carney, and a few other journalists

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-24412557234478379472008-09-25T10:43:00.005-06:002008-09-25T11:01:31.966-06:00

Michael Brendan Dougherty, writing at the promising new site Culture 11, considers why there has not been a schism in the U.S. Catholic Church in his short essay A Schism DeferredAt first the question appears unwarranted. Though one still hears of “AmChurch” in traditionalist Catholic magazines, there is no organized impetus for a split.Dougherty helps explain why.Liberal Catholics, he writes, “

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-30886349306201649672008-09-03T08:41:00.003-06:002008-10-08T00:14:46.820-06:00

(A mix-up at CNA meant this story wasn't entered for timely publication, so I am publishing it here)Denver – Self-professed pro-life Democratic legislators, candidates, and other speakers addressed a Democrats for Life town hall meeting in a Denver hotel last Wednesday during the Democratic National Convention (DNC). During the meeting academics and policy experts stressed the need to find “

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3512951.post-63969618291939700542008-08-26T00:10:00.006-06:002008-10-08T00:15:02.585-06:00

This week will certainly be a rush, as I was approved for DNC press credentials as part of Catholic News Agency at very late notice. So late that we have had very little preparation time, so leads are welcome either in the comments or at my new e-mail at (PR.joneskevinj) over at, let's distract the spammers, gmail.com.I have already suffered through the LGBT Caucus, where Tim Gill conveniently

Kevin J. Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06907423156155669252noreply@blogger.com8