Self-Defenestration

Whuppsie-Daisy, there's a scandal:  what we thought was scientific, anthropological evidence, ain't.  This has some legs, too;  an eminent scholar ends his career in shame, forced to resign after several falsifications were revealed.

Defenestration -- being thrown out a window.  This particular phrasing has roots in Catholic-Protestant tensions in early modern Europe.

Except science scandals like this qualify more as self-defenestration.  Everything rolling their way, and the agents in question simply go out of their way to screw things up for themselves.  They throw themselves out a window.  Self-Defenestration.

Maybe this is just another way of saying:  original sin.  Keep rubbin'--that stain ain't coming out.

In our memed-up world where we communicate in Uzi-short bursts of 140 characters and Handmaid's Tale-esque images, these sorts of scandals will continue as the norm.  The conventional wisdom:  "science" tells us what's true because it's verifiable.  So whatever science tells us is true, then that, and certainly not "religion," is the acceptable view.

Hence memes like this:

This is a secular version of what I've called "comedy porn."  Here's another version (NSFW/offensive language warning!):

Here we have one embodiment (there are others) of "comedy porn:"  the self-satisfied, condescending, "you don't know what's good for you" tone that delights in ridiculing others.  Usually this serves a progressivist, roughly secular, perspective but that doesn't stop progressivist Christians from getting in on the act.  If there's a chance to lampoon supposedly dumb Christians, watch everybody line up! Note:  this savage satire does, at times, serve important purposes.  Consider the success of Eye of the Tiber.

gratitude's surprising environment

Stephen Colbert, the new host of CBS's Late Show, is GQ's cover story.  Brooklyn's Deacon Greg Kandra writes:

The funnyman is about to unveil “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” on CBS, and he gets profiled in the latest issue of GQ and offers some personal theology that is as beautiful as it is unexpected. When was the last time you heard a famous late night comic talk like this?  Luke Russert even tweeted about this yesterday, noting: “Fantastic piece. Catholic undertones in every Colbert answer.”

Full Colbert interview in GQ here.

Kandra's post interpreting said interview here.

Catholic undertones in every answer. 

Just let that sink in.  Are there problems with mainstream media.  Yes, absolutely.  But here, in the time slot where we expect to see nothing but cynical ridicule instead we have Colbert's startling declarations of gratitude and faith. And these are thoroughly, unapologetically Roman Catholic. So much for evangelizing through dour denials or condemnations.  Look at Colbert's intelligence, wit, and humor... and realize that fueling all that is his faith.  

There are times when Colbert shamelessly offers as humor what we might otherwise call catechetics.  Here's another one--a send-up of hymnody and dance.

He's out of breath at the end...and you can tell he had fun doing that. Good--and good to laugh at ourselves.
It is wonderful to appreciate and should spark thanksgiving to God for gracious gifts such as this.  Not Colbert's position to influence culture (although he does have that), but not even the moments when his material is conscientiously Catholic, but rather the simple, joyous presence of his faith...and the power that illuminate and inspire us, too.

Late addition:  Colbert's show debuted last night on CBS.  Here is Deacon Kandra's review.  With Colbert now all three major late-night show hosts are Catholics:  Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, and Jimmy Fallon.  James Fisher once wrote about the Catholic takeover of popular culture.  It would seem we're about to see another installment.

Bishop Barron on His Episcopal Coat of Arms | Word on Fire

Bishop Barron on His Episcopal Coat of Arms | Word on Fire



Non nisi te Domine--Only you, Lord....



Continue to pray for Bishop Barron, his brother bishops in Los Angeles, and all bishops, especially the Bishop of Rome, Pope Francis!

Καθολικός διάκονος: Anticipating an Extraordinary Jubilee

Καθολικός διάκονος: Anticipating an Extraordinary Jubilee: Utah deacon Scott Dodge's reflections on Pope Francis' announcement of the Jubilee of Mercy starting on December 8, 2015 the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.  Deacon Dodge:

First and foremost Pope Francis describes how all the faithful may obtain the Jubilee Indulgence. In his letter the Holy Father expresses his “wish that the Jubilee Indulgence may reach each one as a genuine experience of God’s mercy, which comes to meet each person in the Face of the Father who welcomes and forgives, forgetting the sin forgiven.” Indulgences are not a thing of past, but remain an important practice of Christian faith. Once again, I encourage everyone to read Bl Pope Paul VI’s Apostolic Constitution Indulgentiarum Doctrina. 

Pilgrims to Rome for the Jubilee can obtain the Jubilee Indulgence by making a pilgrimage to one of the four Papal Basilicas and churches “traditionally identified as Jubilee Churches” each of which will have a Door of Mercy. Every Cathedral in each diocese will have a Holy Door to which one can make a pilgrimage. Only a brief visit, made as expression of one’s “deep desire for true conversion,” is requested. I expect miracles. 

The Holy Father makes provision for those who are ill and elderly. In a deeply moving passage in his letter, Pope Francis makes it possible for prisoners to obtain the Jubilee Indulgence by making prison chapels sites on par with Papal Basilicas, Jubilee Churches, and Cathedrals. 

Those fluent in Italian can read a Roman tourism article describing the Jubilee pilgrimages here.  In the same letter Pope Francis allows all priests to absolve women who've had abortions. This made, in case you missed it, some stir in the media.  The Holy Father also, for the Jubilee year, recognizes as valid and licit confessions heard by priests of the Society of St. Pius X.  This is, Dodge notes, is quite surprising to our human sensibilities, but not so much when considered from the scope of divine mercy.  

Read all of the Deacon's post here.

So there's one image of Pope Francis:  the great reacher-outer, the great inclusionist.  As Deacon Dodge concludes, c'mon, people, it's not that difficult.   He.is.evangelizing.  And may God sustain him so for many years to come.

On the other hand, Pope Francis hasn't thrown the baby out with the bath water.  Church teachings on the family, sexuality, women's ordination--nothing's changed there.  You would think somebody would've read the memo by now.  The. Pope. is. Catholic.  This is not a newsflash.  In fact, as Dodge notes, it's because the Pope is very much Catholic that the Jubilee of Mercy reaches out to so many different groups:  women who regret abortions, prisoners, the SSPX, pilgrims to Rome.  And really all of us; we are all sinners.

And still God, through Pope Francis, extends the call home. Symbolized by Bernini's colonnade at St. Peter's, the Church's arms still reach out to all.

Bishop-elect Barron on Stephen Colbert and Providence | Word on Fire

Bishop-elect Barron on Stephen Colbert and Providence | Word on Fire -- Bishop-elect Barron traces the connections from Colbert through Tolkien to Newman.  And it's providential.  We might give consolation and courage to others--alive now or not yet born.  Yet more great watch from Word on Fire and Bishop Barron.

not nearly as funny as you think it is

Simcha Fisher, Patheos Catholic blogger and mother of nine, writes about Slate education reporter Rebecca Shuman's confession that she photographs herself flipping the middle finger to her sleeping baby.

You read correctly:  a reporter, on education mind you, for a national online publication, published an article--with photographs--detailing her delight in giving vulgar hand-gestures to her own child.  Because, apparently, the seven-month old has trouble getting to sleep.

I'm not terribly concerned with Shuman's piece.  The photo alone suggests that she, an elite, well-educated and well-employed journalist, feels empowered enough to do basically whatever she wants...and then tell us all about it.  It's this last part that really grinds the gears;  why do we need to know this?  What benefit does Shuman's article and her photos serve?

Fisher's response is direct, honest, and devastating.  It's also has some direct and NSFW language, so be warned.  Fisher:

This is bullshit, and I’ve said so more times than I can count. It makes us into worse parents when we expect to be joyful and grateful all the time. Raising babies is hard, and there are lots of times when it just plain sucks. I recall telling my pediatrician, in a moment of sleep-deprived candor, that I wasn’t actually going to throw my always-screaming baby out the window, but I sure felt like I wanted to.

Simcha expresses sympathy and understanding for frustrated parents who need to blow off some parenting steam. Hey, the woman's given birth to nine children--I think she knows what she's talking about.  The need to release tension, though, isn't absolute.  Fisher:

But listen to what I said: the demands of babyhood are awful. That does not make your baby awful. One of the first things you need to learn, if you want to be a good parent, is to make sure you know the difference between “fuck this situation” and “fuck this baby.” The former is a universal experience. The latter is grotesque.

But why? The baby doesn’t know the difference, and I believe this mom who says she loves her baby. Isn’t this just some harmless, if tasteless, venting? Does it really matter what goes on around the head of someone who doesn’t and can’t understand what’s happening, which is really just a joke anyway?

But this, Fisher correctly argues, is precisely the point.  Human dignity extends to all, and Shuman does care for her child.  So....it's precisely because the baby is, well, a baby that such gestures are problematic.  They dehumanize the powerless--the very people we're all called to defend.  Fisher:

Just because someone can’t fight back, that doesn’t mean we can use them. Just because someone can’t fight back, that means we can’t use them.

Recall the infamous Army Private Lynndie England photos from Abu Ghraib. .....

No, the Slate writer’s baby isn’t be tortured. But there is something chillingly familiar about “HA, you can’t fight back!” attitude. You don’t need to look up your Aristotle to know that some things just aren’t funny. Even if it makes you feel better.

The very worst thing that you can do to another human being is to use him. I used to think this was just some abstract theological formulation meant to neaten up the codification of sins. But now I see that objectification of human beings lies at the heart of every sin. That’s what it always comes down to.

Fisher's article parallels Schuman's photo with Lynndie Englan's Abu Ghraib pic.  The resemblances are uncanny--and frightening.  It's one thing to view Schuman's photos in Slate--where's the harm there?  We all have problems with our designer children....or so the breezy dismissal goes.  Fisher hits a home run with the Abu Ghraib comparison:  the condescendingly reassertion of power and objectification strike us as wrong....but in one instance we condemn yet in another we pass it off as a mother's frustrations.  But Fisher reminds us:  such objectification is sinful.

And she's also right--that objectification appears everywhere.It's not nearly as funny as we think it is.

And we all, sadly, fall into the trap--but that doesn't mean we can't fight the temptation.

Read it all  here.

the Dickey lick in Catholic theology

Not a dirty-minded title! This post does not involve clergy sexual abuse....but you sure thought about it, didn't you?

"lick" -- a particular musical phrase, rhythm, or melodic pattern; not quite a hook

"the Dickey lick"  -- a particular chord or passage in an Allman Brothers Band song written by, played by, or performed in the style of, founding member and guitarist Dickey Betts.  The phrase comes from Derek Trucks and Warren Haynes, the band's guitarists and musical directors for the group's final decade.  Haynes, who joined the group in 1989, and Trucks, who joined in 1999 and the nephew of founding drummer Butch Trucks, faced a conundrum perhaps common to many who perform classic songs written by another hand. Do you remain faithful to the song's original format and style, and to what extent are you, the current performer, allowed to improvise?  Haynes and Trucks, both exceptionally accomplished musicians, recognized the necessity--for the band's fans as well as the band's own legacy--to perform "the Dickey lick" as Betts crafted wherever it might appear in a song, even though they themselves might want to, and could quite easily, play it differently.  "The Dickey lick" is part of what makes particular Allman Brothers songs what they are.

  Thus an old-school entry:

 and a more recent example:

 Betts wrote and sang both songs (and that's him in the second video tab)

All this comes courtesy of the 2014 book One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band.  In oral history format--the band's members and agents speak for themselves--the book covers the band's entire history except its final concerts in October 2014 in New York City. An interesting read if you're a fan of the band or that type of jamming-Southern rock.  It is interesting to recall that "Rambling Man," containing perhaps some of the most recognizable "Dickey licks," was recorded after the death of founder, spiritual guide,and lead guitarist Duane Allman.  In fact, the band played for several decades after Duane Allman died, expanding and changing all the while yet maintaining spiritual and stylistic ties. From pages 371-3:

HAYNES:  It was really different to record an Allman Brothers album without Dickey, and playing in this band without him has led me to alter my style quite a bit. His playing is marked by a very clean tone and a beautiful melodic sense, so I tended towards a nastier approach playing with him. The melodic thing and the clean-versus-dirty tone contrasts both have to be there to sound like the Allman Brothers, so I've taken some of things on myself. To go too far against the grain just wouldn't be right...which is why you hear those ascending lines on songs like "Firing Line" and "The High Cost of Low Living."

TRUCKS:  "The Dickey lick."

HAYNES:  If Gov't Mule [blogger's note:  this is Haynes' side-project formed in 1994] was recording the song we probably wouldn't put that lick in there.  It's there because it's an Allman Brothers riff, and you need things like that to keep the thread going from 1969 til now--though I must say that Gregg [Allman] wanted it out.  He said, "We've been doing that shit for thirty years.  Can we take that lick out?"

TRUCKS:  A lick like that is the band's sound.  The rhythm section and Gregg's organ sound lend themselves to certain guitar lines and you play them almost without realizing it. When you're playing a tune, you think "This is what the Allman Brothers would do."  You just happen to be in them.

And that, folks, summarizes basically the story--tensions, crises, and triumphs--of American Catholic theology since the Second Vatican Council.  To what extent do we, who did not write the songs we play, remain truthful to "the Dickey lick"--a particular melodic strain--to keep the thread going?  To what extent do we create and continue a tradition even as we criticize it?  Because we are in the song we're playing.