Glenn Beck Revealed

Interesting piece in yesterday’s New York Times, a long profile-interview with American conservative broadcaster and political pundit Glenn Beck. Tom, at Opinion Forum, is definitely right: “Whether you view Beck with respect or disdain, you’ll learn things in the article that will help you understand where he’s coming from and maybe where he’s going.” A good read and well worth your time.

Why Did Islam Become What It Is?

I have always thought that nobody who has an ounce of common sense—not to speak of sensibility and culture—cannot help but respect other people’s religious beliefs, except for those which are manifestly contrary to universal human right principles. Such is, of course, my attitude toward Islam. Hence my deep appreciation for thinkers such as G.K. Chesteron, whose respect for Islam is as strong as

Mount Athos - The Holy Mountain

A World Heritage Site, The Holy Mountain, on the peninsula of the same name in Macedonia, in northern Greece, is a self-governed part of the Greek state, subject to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. But first and foremost it is the centre of Eastern Christian Orthodox Monasticism.

Having never been there, I cannot help but dream of the day … How about you? If you feel the same way as me, you

A Time for Choosing

“ It’s time we asked ourselves if we still know the freedoms intended for us by the Founding Fathers. James Madison said, “We base all our experiments on the capacity of mankind for self government.”

This idea—that government was beholden to the people, that it had no other source of power—is still the newest, most unique idea in all the long history of man’s relation to man. This is the issue

The philosophical habit of mind

In his Conservative Mind, Russell Kirk located the importance of John Henry Newman as a great “philosopher of tradition” in his skill in articulating the value of knowledge, the limits of reason and science, the danger of utilitarianism and rationalism, the nature of intellectual virtue, and the necessity of such virtue for the grasp of first principles. But perhaps the fundamental feature of

Fall

The leaves are falling, falling as from far,from wilting in the heavens' farthest gardens:They're falling to negate the summer's mirth.
And in the nights the heavy Earthfalls into solitude from star to star.
We all are falling. This my hand here bends.And look at others: Fall's in all their calling.
And yet there's One, who's holding all this fallingforever tender in His upturned hands...

What the Profumo affair is all about

First off let me start by saying that I am no expert in finance and economics, and that, therefore, I myself am just trying to understand what happened. And this just because of the obvious importance—not only from a financial point of view, but also from a political (and social) one—of what actually happened.

That being said, let’s face it. UniCredit SpA Chief Executive Alessandro Profumo

Madam President?

It could happen, no doubt. As a matter of fact, speculation that Sarah Palin, former Alaska Governor and Republican candidate for Vice President in 2008, will run for President in 2012 is reaching fever pitch. Yet, they say the ambition doesn’t always sit well with Alaskans, who have a saying: “We don’t care how they do it on the Outside.” At least, until the Outside suddenly lands on their

The New York Times: More papist than the Pope?

It might well be the case. Things change, my friends …


All in all, the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Britain over the weekend must have been a disappointment to his legions of detractors. Their bold promises notwithstanding, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens didn’t manage to clap the pope in irons and haul him off to jail. The protests against Benedict’s presence proved a sideshow to

Benedict XVI's call for religious reciprocity

During his UK visit, Benedict XVI said many things on many topics. Most of these things went unreported or underreported, sometimes with a certain degree of inaccuracy (to say the least), by the mainstream media. One of them is the following statement, made during His Holiness meeting with representatives of Britain’s other major religions, namely Jews, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs (read the full

Stopping the Socialist Express

~ “LETTERS FROM AMERICA” - by The Metaphysical Peregrine ~

Americans are practical people. If something doesn’t work, it’s tossed aside. What the Democrats and President Obama are doing to the country doesn’t work. Socialism has a one hundred percent failure rate; it only appears to work if there’s enough money generated from capitalism to support it.

As a result of legislation that can’t be

Benedict XVI: What is owed to Caesar and what is owed to God

Addressing British politicians, businessmen and cultural leaders a few hours ago in Westminister Hall, where in 1535 the great English scholar and statesman Saint Thomas More was tried for treason and condemned to death, Pope Benedict XVI paid tribute to “the perennial question of the relationship between what is owed to Caesar and what is owed to God,” and defended the legitimate role of

Happy Constitution Day!

The members of the Constitutional Convention signed the United States Constitution on September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Happy Constitution Day!

The Guardian, the Pope and the “notables”

While crowds were gathering to welcome Benedict XVI to Edinburgh, first stop on the Pope’s UK visit, I must confess that I was still fairly confused about this letter, published by the Guardian and signed by some British notables, against the Pope and his state visit. What on earth? After all Britain is not so much anti-Catholic as quite rude, and unusually secular, and the Guardian, I was

Honoring John Henry Newman

In early life he was a major figure in the Oxford Movement to bring the Church of England back to its Catholic roots. Eventually his studies in history persuaded him to become a Roman Catholic (October 1845). As it was not enough, at the end of the process of canonization, Venerable John Henry Newman—the status of “venerable” is the step before beatification on the road to sainthood in the

Mormonism, stereotypes, and popular culture

I must confess my ignorance on this subject, but thought those interested in Mormonism might find it interesting and/or thought-provoking to read this paper, presented at the CESNUR (Center for Studies on New Religions) 2010 conference in Turin by prominent Italian sociologist of religion Massimo Introvigne.

“Lead Kindly Light”

This is the choir of Wells Cathedral performing the hymn “Lead Kindly Light,” the lyrics of which were written by John Henry Newman in 1833. “Lead Kindly Light” is usually sung to the tune “Lux Benigna,” composed by John Bacchus Dykes in 1865, but there is an alternative tune: “Sandon,” by Charles Henry Purday, written in 1857. While traveling in Italy as a young priest, the future Cardinal

Somewhere in Venice

Somewhere has won the top Golden Lion prize at the Venice film festival (and I think I'll go and see it as soon as I can). Written and directed by Academy Award Winner Sofia Coppola, the daughter of The Godfather (1972) director Francis Ford Coppola, Somewhere tells the story of a movie star, played by Stephen Dorff, who comes to see the emptiness of his existence through the eyes of his 11-

9 Years Ago Today - We Will Never Forget

George W. Bush: Bullhorn Speech to Emergency Rescue Workers at 9/11 Ground Zero, New York, delivered September 14 2001. Read the complete transcript here.
Via Gateway Pundit. See also Remembrance 9/11 at The Metaphysical Peregrine.

The New York Hamasque and the Bigoted Media

~ “LETTERS FROM AMERICA” - by The Metaphysical Peregrine ~
The Mosque at “Ground Zero” is the big controversy in the US. It’s 600 feet from where the Twin Towers used to stand. The building it was to replace had part of a landing gear lodged in it, so one could say it also was part of “ground zero”.


Muslims build mosques to make statements of triumph over their enemies. If you’re not a Muslim,

G. K. Chesterton Vs the “black legend” of the Crusades

Every now and then I feel like paying tribute to the Crusades (click here to read all my posts about this subject), one of the most controversial and misinterpreted issues—mostly because of the shadow cast on them by the Enlightenment circles to use them as a weapon in their anti-religious campaigns—in Western intellectual, religious, and political history. So here is yet another blow to the “