[This post by Paddy Gilger, SJ originally appeared in The Jesuit Post on September 26, 2012] I walked into my Jesuit community a week ago to find three of my brothers dancing. Not just moving in place dancing, but real, shake-it, dancing. They were watching a music video, grins pasted all over their faces and… Read More Cultural Satire, Gangnam Style
I was especially excited for the 4th of July this year. It has always been a special holiday for me, seeing as I love both history and the beach, and I get heavy doses of both each Independence Day. This year, however, neither of those got me half as excited as what was taking place… Read More Sharing in Our Master’s Subatomic Particles
In 2008, Fariba Kamalabadi, the mother of a friend and former classmate, was arrested by Iranian officials and taken to Tehran’s notorious Evin Prison. She was accused of “espionage for Israel, insulting religious sanctities, and propaganda against the Islamic Republic of Iran.” Her real crime: her position in the Yaran, the leadership of Iran’s Baha’i… Read More The age of martyrs is still with us
Once upon a time, boys and girls used to approach a video game console, turn it on, and practice manipulating a two-dimensional frog across a street in order to get their thrills. Today, the stakes have changed: we have only one life to start with, the screen is smaller, and what is on the screen… Read More Frogger, John of the Cross, and Embodied Love
The world is awash in conflict. The push and pull for supporters to back a particular position is broadcast and often inflamed by digital media. Suicide bombers wager that death will bring notice to their cause. They trade their own lives for the publicity and the chaos that ensues when their heartbeat stops. American politicians,… Read More Conflict, Complexity and Hope: The Millennial Experience
Post-convention quarterbacking is largely over, but there will be no shortage of serious dinner table conversations this fall about the parties, platforms, and candidates. Given the range of political beliefs among Catholics, our homes will be filled with such discussions. There is more than a tinge of irony though as spouses, siblings, and friends choose… Read More Religion at the Dinner Table: Still Bad Manners?
I have no idea what Mitt Romney really believes. When it comes to public policy, he is one of the least principled men to ever run for the presidency in a general election. Given the history of politics in our country, that’s quite an achievement. Is he the pro-choice, pragmatic, technocratic moderate from Massachusetts or… Read More The Real Romney
