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What was nutty was that the movie folk were trafficking in illusions in a real world but the real world thought that its reality could only be found in the illusions. Two sets of maniacs.

—Lancelot

Paradise is littered with the rusting hulks of splendid Pontiacs, Olds, and Chryslers that developed vapor locks and dead batteries and were abandoned. Nowadays people buy cars, drive them until they break down, abandon them and buy another. Most of my friends have switched to Toyotas, which have one moving part.

Don't tell me the U.S.A. went down the drain because of Leftism, Knotheadism, apostasy, pornography, polarization, etcetera, etcetera. All these things may have happened, but what finally tore it was that things stopped working and nobody wanted to be a repairman.

—Love In the Ruins

To do science, one must assume that the universe makes some kind of sense, that it behaves according to some kind of logic, that there is an intrinsic order in the universe. If there was no intrinsic order in the universe to discover, there would be no point in doing science. One big question that pops up, then, is the source of this intrinsic order.

St. Athanasius, in his Discourse Against the Pagans, gives the Christian's answer to the source of the order in the universe and insists that this intrinsic order lends support to Christian belief. Writing in the 4th century he says:

For if the movement of the universe were irrational, and the world rolled on in random fashion, one would be justified in disbelieving what we say. But if the world is founded on reason, wisdom and science, and is filled with orderly beauty, then it must owe its origin and order to none other than the Word of God.

. . .

By his eternal Word the Father created all things and implanted a nature in his creatures. He did not want to see them tossed about at the mercy of their own natures, and so be reduced to nothingness. But in his goodness he governs and sustains the whole of nature by his Word (who is himself also God), so that under the guidance, providence and ordering of that Word, the whole of nature might remain stable and coherent in his light.

There are, of course, alternatives to the notion that the universe was endowed with order by its creator. One could always take the multiverse hypothesis: that there are an infinite number of universes popping into and out of existence all the time and we just happen to be in one that appears to make sense. I mean, what with an infinite number of universes, one that makes sense would have to pop up eventually. Infinite universes, yes, that's it! No, we can't really prove their existence, but believing in them without any proof is far more reasonable than the God hypothesis.

Reference: Excerpt from St. Athanasius, Discourse Against the Pagans, in The Liturgy of the Hours Vol. III, Office of Readings for Thursday of the first week of Ordinary Time, pp. 67–68; New York: Catholic Book Publishing Corp., 1975.

Something to think about as our Commander-in-chief who, having just accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, is escalating the war effort in Afghanistan:

This lust of sovereignty disturbs and consumes the human race with frightful ills. By this lust Rome was overcome when she triumphed over Alba, and praising her own crime, called it glory. For, as our Scriptures say, "the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the Lord abhorreth" [Psalm 10:3]. Away, then, with these deceitful masks, these deluding whitewashes, that things may be truthfully seen and scrutinized. Let no man tell me that this and the other was a "great" man, because he fought and conquered so and so. Gladiators fight and conquer, and this barbarism has its meed of praise; but I think it were better to take the consequences of any sloth, than to seek the glory won by such arms.

(City of God, book 3, n. 14)

From the talk "Human Rights in the New Millennium".

Such contrasts lead to situations that are highly revealing about the prospects for human rights. Right now, the two American political parties are competing to see which can uphold more fervently its dedication to the sadistic doctrine that undocumented immigrants must be denied health care. Their stand is consistent with the legal principle, established by the Supreme Court, that these creatures are not "persons" under the law, hence are not entitled to the rights granted to persons. And at the very same moment, the Court is considering the question of whether corporations should be permitted to purchase elections openly instead of doing so only in more indirect ways -- a complex constitutional matter, because the courts have determined that unlike undocumented immigrants, corporations are real persons under the law, and in fact have rights far beyond those of persons of flesh and blood, including rights granted by the mislabelled "free trade agreements." These revealing coincidences elicit no comment. The law is indeed a solemn and majestic affair.

In the last presidential campaign, there was much grumbling about the "Obamessiah" phenomenon—the apparent wholehearted devotion to a man who is most decidedly not "sort of God." This phenomenon has also been referred to by Mark Shea as an "Obamagasm."

However, the apotheosis of political leaders is nothing new. In ancient Rome, the emperors believed themselves to be descended from the gods. Augustine had this to say in reply (City of God, book 3, n. 4):

Some one will say, But do you believe all this? Not I indeed. For even Varro, a very learned heathen, all but admits that these stories [of the divinity of the leaders] are false, though he does not boldly and confidently say so. But he maintains it is useful for states that brave men believe, though falsely, that they are descended from the gods; for that thus the human spirit, cherishing the belief of its divine descent, will both more boldly venture into great enterprises, and will carry them out more energetically, and will therefore by its very confidence secure more abundant success. You see how wide a field is opened to falsehood by this opinion of Varro's, which I have expressed as well as I could in my own words; and how comprehensible it is, that many of the religions and sacred legends should be feigned in a community in which it was judged profitable for the citizens that lies should be told even about the gods themselves.

In other words, don't buy the hype.

Quote of the day from St. Augustine:

Christ, who teaches life-giving truth . . . and who, abominating and condemning with His divine authority those wicked and hurtful lusts of men, gradually withdraws His own people from a world that is corrupted by these vices, and is falling into ruins, to make of them an eternal city, whose glory rests not on the acclamation of vanity, but on the judgment of truth.

(City of God, book II, n. 18)

Augustine never fails to make me smile (City of God, book 2, no. 1):

If the feeble mind of man did not presume to resist the clear evidence of truth . . ., they who have just ideas, and express them in suitable language, would need to use no long discourse to refute the errors of empty conjecture. But this mental infirmity is now more prevalent and hurtful than ever, to such an extent that even after the truth has been as fully demonstrated as man can prove it to man, they hold for the very truth their own unreasonable fancies, either on account of their great blindness . . . or on account of their opinionative obstinacy, which prevents them from acknowledging the force of what they do see.

Unreasonable fancies? Hmmm.... The Resurrection was not an historical event, you say? The stuff that Jesus said isn't really the stuff Jesus said, you say? We've misunderstood Jesus for all these years, you say?

It's oddly comforting to know that, though they say may sound different today, the intellectually infirm have been around for 2,000 years.

St. Augustine to the pagan Romans who blamed the Christians for the fall of the empire (The City of God, book 1, n. 30.):

For why in your calamities do you complain of Christianity, unless because you desire to enjoy your luxurious licence unrestrained, and to lead an abandoned and profligate life without the interruption of any uneasiness or disaster? For certainly your desire for peace, and prosperity, and plenty is not prompted by any purpose of using these blessings honestly, that is to say, with moderation, sobriety, temperance, and piety; for your purpose rather is to run riot in an endless variety of sottish pleasures, and thus to generate from your prosperity a moral pestilence which will prove a thousandfold more disastrous than the fiercest enemies.

Hmmm... Let's see... Can I think of any modern nations who want to live unrestrained and run riot in an endless variety of sottish pleasures and who then blame the Christians when it doesn't work out so well?

Nothing comes to mind.

Oh, wait! I've got it!

From David Berlinski, "On the Origins of the Mind":

Thus, in tests of preference, Victor Johnson, a bio-psychologist at New Mexico State University, has reported that men throughout the world designate as attractive women with the most feminine faces. Their lips are large and lustrous, their jaws narrow, their eyes wide. On display in every magazine and on every billboard, such faces convey "accented hormonal markers." These are a guide to fertility, and it is the promise of fertility that prompts the enthusiastic male response.

There is no reason to doubt Johnson's claim that on the whole men prefer pretty young women to all the others—the result, I am sure, of research extending over a score of years. It is the connection to fertility that remains puzzling. If male standards of beauty are rooted in the late Paleolithic era, men worldwide should now be looking for stout muscular women with broad backs, sturdy legs, a high threshold to pain, and a welcome eagerness to resume foraging directly after parturition. It has not been widely documented that they do.