Mark P. Shea's Blog, page 1334

The Trouble with Ayn Rand

Any review that starts this way has my vote:

It is one of the most indelibly memorable scenes, and certainly the best twist ending, to have come out of the cinema of the 1960s: Charlton Heston riding his horse along the beach, Linda Harrison mounted behind him with her arms wrapped around his waist, both quite fetching in their late Pleistocene dishabille, until they come upon some gigantic object, visible to the viewer at first only from behind, and just fragmentarily familiar from the ruinous silhouette of its torch and spiked coronal. Heston dismounts, an expression of dawning understanding on his face. The surf breaks about his feet. "Oh, my God!" he exclaims and falls to his knees. "They finally, really did it!" Beating the sand with his fist, he cries out, "You maniacs! Damn you! God damn you all to hell!" The white foam swirls about him again. Only then does the camera draw back, now from the opposite angle, to reveal the shattered remains of the Statue of Liberty. The screen goes dark, but the sound of waves can still be heard.

I don't really want to talk about The Planet of the Apes just now. I mention the scene only because, quite unintentionally, I found myself reenacting it only a few days ago, uttering the same lines almost verbatim, sinking to the earth under the same burden of world-darkening despair. Oh, there was no bleak, blinding prospect of the gray and silver sea stretching out toward an impossibly distant horizon, there were no waves breaking with a desolate sigh on the barren strand, there was no horse, no fallen copper colossus, and certainly no beautiful, scantily clad woman nearby. There was, however, the same frantic look of terrible recognition in my eyes, the same pitch of hopeless horror in my voice, the same sense of doom. I had just discovered that some malevolent wretch had done it at last: had made a film of Atlas Shrugged.

It is a measure of the health of First Things that they published this review and are warning people away from the ethics of this little antichrist. It is a measure of the disease of our culture that they need to.

Very Cool

A reader writes:

This is one of those surpassingly beautiful things that always make me think of that old argument that there is no significant difference between humans and animals. Show me the chimp that can do this, hippie! ;)

Art is the signature of man. - G.K. Chesterton

Just War Doctrine Question

...over at the Register.

A reader writes

Hello Mr. Shea--I wanted to send you an update on my maternal grandmother. She has made a remarkable turnaround--within a few days to a week after I wrote you she started eating again and steadily began to improve. She still cannot talk, though she has tried to, or walk. When I most recently saw her two weeks ago I found her in front of the TV watching the news, something I do not think she has done in over a year and a half.
I very much believe that her turnaround is at least in great part attributable to the prayers garnered through your posting my request on your blog. I would like to pass on great thanksgiving for that. That said, I know that the inevitable is still likely near, even if "near" can only be defined as anywhere from the next few months to a little over the next year or so, and so I still pray that, when the time does ultimately come that it may be peaceful for her--and that my mother and her sisters may resolve what has come between them during my grandmother's decline.

Father, thank you for your great grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. We ask that this time will be used well to bring peace, healing, and reconciliation through the same Jesus. Mother Mary, pray for this woman and all with whom she has to do that your Son's will be completed in their lives.

Whoda thunk?

Secret memos expose link between oil corps and invasion of Iraq.

Because our Empire exists to serve the rich and powerful.

A reader writes...

At several parishes in my area, on national holidays such as Thanksgiving, Veterans Day, Independence Day, and Memorial Day, patriotic hymns such as America The Beautiful, God Bless America, and Battle Hymn of the Republic are part of the songs for Mass. We also have the American flag alongside the Vatican flag in the sanctuary of many churches and several churches fly the American and Vatican flag from a flagpole outside.
I get very uncomfortable when these things happen, especially singing patriotic songs during the Mass because I feel this is an inappropriate intrusion of nationalism into the Mass, and, since the Church is universal, I feel it fosters division in the Church. I also feel all of these things are unacceptable intrusions of the secular into the sacred. It is one thing to be proud of one's country, but since the Church is universal and Christ comes before Caesar, I think intrusions of Caesar into the Mass are inappropriate.
What are your thoughts on these phenomena? Are patriotic hymns and American flags on church premises, even the sanctuary, appropriate? Why or why not? I'd appreciate your insights on this, and any helpful resources on this, that you could provide. Many "conservative" Catholic friends see no problems with this, but I cringe whenever these things happen.
Many thanks for your assistance with these matters.

I have no particular problem with this sort of thing on the appropriate secular feast day like the Fourth of July or Anzac Day or whatever. Patriotism is simply "love your neighbor" extended to the border. I think that's perfectly legitimate (as long as you don't use it as an excuse for hating your neighbor beyond the border). Loving your country is loving your family.

Of course, nationalism, which often masquerades as patriotism is not loving your country. Nationalism is to a nation as pride is to a person. It is a diabolical parody of love.

That said, I don't think an American flag in the sanctuary is appropriate as a normal feature (though I can see one on, say, Memorial Day or the Fourth. Your mileage may vary.

Theology of the Body for Teens...

...is having a Scholarship Essay Contest for high school teens.

One young man and one young woman will each win the Grand Prize of $1500, plus a $500 Gift Card to Ascension Press for their parishes or schools.

Very Sensible

A common sense linkage of Good Friday to Earth Day that doesn't have a whiff of Gaia worship to it.

Shakespeare Abbot and Costello Mashup

Very cool!

Heh!

The Rowan Williams lookalike is disturbingly lookalikeish.

HT: The Anchoress