July 24, 2020 – Ammon Hennacy, Catholic Worker, b. 1893-1970 After five months the United States is still knee deep in the coronavirus pandemic, while other countries that were beset at the same time have found a way to beat back the worst of the virus and protect lives. The U.S. response to simple measures such as stay-at-home orders, social distancing, and mask wearing has been predictable. Rather than tending to these basic public health measures, we have chosen our…
Birthday of Frederick Douglass English enjoys an abundance of language for many things, largely the result of our inheritance from both Latin and Germanic languages. Thus, we can speak of both justice and righteousness. Sometimes proponents exhort us to use words from one source or the other – see for example George Orwell “Politics and the English Language” (1946). I prefer to relish the diversity and depth of English. What a joy that we can choose between melancholy and ennui…
MLK Day 2020 Why liberation? Because unless we are free, we cannot flourish and cannot come to the fullness of our virtues. Without freedom our virtues are not fully our own; they are contingent and can be controlled by another. An act of generosity can be undone; an act of love can be outlawed or prevented; justice can be thwarted; wisdom can be limited. Freedom is the first virtue upon which the others, acts of our free will, depend. Liberation…