LinkDump

First, two recent John C. Wright posts:

The Argument of Antimonogamy.

Disloyalty to the Void.

Now, my response to his second piece.

And his response to my response.

What do you think? Is Mr. Wright right, and there's a place for fuming and thunder? Or am I right and we should chose words carefully so that others are more inclined to listen to us?

And what's the answer to his question: "In the case given above, where Bukkake and BDSM and prostitution are portrayed as normal — what is the correct tone to set? That of Socrates, honest, detached, ironic, polite? or that of John the Baptist, who warned of the wrath to come?"

What's Wrong with this Picture?

I snapped this screenshot of Bejeweled 3 right after the words "No more moves" appeared and right before the gems exploded off the screen. See anything wrong?

Double-ewe tee eff, Popcap. Double-ewe tee eff.

(For those interested in what causes this bug to occur, it sometimes happens during a cascade. In the middle of the cascade, the words "no more moves" appear, yet the cascade continues. When it finally comes to rest, there might still be moves, but the "game over" flag has already been tripped. It appears that their algorithm that checks for game over conditions only checks if valid swaps can be made, and does not check if gems are already matched.)

In a Parallel Universe Somewhere...

...a Vancouver police officer, speaking to college students about a recent crime wave, has suggested that, to avoid mugging, people shouldn't go walking through bad neighborhoods at night, flashing around large wads of cash. This has caused quite a stir, and many people are now accusing the officer of perpetuating a "blame the victim" mentality. In Europe and a few American cities, people have organized protests, called "cash flashes", where they stuff their pockets with large denomination bills, and walk through high-crime areas. Some have been seen carrying signs that say things like "Don't tell me not to flash my cash. Tell thieves not to steal."

* * *

I wonder how much of the controversy has been caused because society has lost the concept of temptation. John C. Wright once wrote about how difficult he found it to adjust to the Christian lifestyle because, prior to his conversion from atheism, his code of ethics was basically defined such that anything he wanted to do was morally allowable. Once he realized that certain things he really, really wanted to do were not OK, he struggled with keeping his passions in check. (I may be mis-quoting him. I don't have time to find the story.)

In today's society, where "anything goes", I suppose that many people simply are unaware that it can be difficult to order your appetites and passions to your intellect. The prevailing attitude is "I can do what I want, and it's your job to not let that affect you." Much of this attitude might simply be due to ignorance of human nature.

Of course, it could also be because the police officer violated the 1st commandment of the Post-Christian West: "Thou shalt not tell me what to do."

* * *

The interesting thing about the "Slut Walks" that have been going on, and the attitude "I can dress however I want" is that, in a perfect, unfallen world, that would be true. If there were no original sin, then there would be no sexual predation, and no need to protect yourself from it. Of course, in this fallen, sinful world we live in, prudence (and charity) demands that we take measures to protect ourselves from the weak-willed, as well as take reasonable measures not to tempt them.

Like all philosophies that deny God and original sin (Marxism and Nietzsche-ism come to mind), these ideas fall apart in their belief that man can be perfected in this life.

Nothingness, I Embrace You!

Best comment on YouTube: "This ideological propaganda for the bourgeois is disgraceful. Gene Roddenberry's collaboration with Camus had fundamental authenticity, subtle but evocative artistry, and phasers."

(H/T Mike Flynn who H/T's Mark Shea)

Beate Joannes Paulus Magnus, Ora Pro Nobis!

As far back as I can remember, I've wanted to see the Pope in person. No, not any pope. The Pope. The newly-beatified John Paul the Great.

On the occasion of his 1987 visit to Los Angeles, my school sent a bus of students to see him along his motorcade route. Only fifth grades and up got to go. I was in first grade. My brother, who was only in fourth grade, got to go because he was accompanied by my sister.

For the 1993 World Youth Day, the youth group we participated in sent a bus of teenagers to Denver. Only those over 15 were allowed to go. I was 12. My brother turned 15 a mere two months before the event. Once again, I was denied the opportunity because I was too young, while my brother just barely snuck in.

I remember in 1987, when I was told that I wouldn't be able to go with my school, I cried to my Mom that I wanted to see the pope. "Well, when you're grown up, you can take a trip to Rome and see him," she offered in consolation.

"Yeah, but it's going to be a different pope then! I want to see this pope!" I'm not quite sure why, at the age of six, I had such a love of JPII.

Fast forward to 2001. I'm in Austria for a semester, and astoundingly, Blessed John Paul the Great is still the pontiff. I remember one day, upon learning that our scheduled trip to Rome and Assisi would include an audience with the pope, how overjoyed I was. I sat in my room, nearly in tears, that I was finally going to receive my childhood wish and see the pope! I remembered back to the 1987 visit to Los Angeles, and the 1993 World Youth Day, and even my mom's advice. "When you're grown up, you can go to Rome yourself." I was grown up, and I was going to Rome!


Fast forward to the Rome/Assisi pilgrimage and, as it turns out, the regular Wednesday papal audience was cancelled that week, because the Pope was going to be on retreat.

*Sniff*

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