The Anchoress

In his 1908 masterpiece Orthodoxy, G. K. Chesterton explored the phenomenon of modern theologians who deny the reality of sin. “The strongest saints and the strongest skeptics alike took positive evil as the starting point of their argument,” Chesterton wrote. “If it be true (as it certainly is) that a man can feel exquisite happiness skinning a cat, then the religious philosopher can make one or two deductions. He must either deny the existence of God, as all atheists do; or he must deny the present union between God and man, as all Christians do. The new theologians seem to think it a highly rationalistic solution to deny the cat.”
- Mark Gauvreau Judge (H/T Malkin who was actually talking about a review of Andrew Sullivan’s book, but I liked the Chesterton quote a lot.)

I like this quote, too: We should not remain infants in faith, in a state of minority. And what does it mean to be an infant in faith? Saint Paul answers: it means “tossed by waves and swept along by every wind of teaching arising from human trickery” (Eph 4, 14) - Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger

Aside from being the Month of the Rosary (and apparently of the Reformation) October - my favorite month, the greatest month of the year - is also Lupus Awareness Month. Check Valerie’s site and head to the link. You might know someone with symptoms who could benefit from your awareness.

Now for the questions:

Can a terrorist “get to know” and sort of make friends with Americans and decide he doesn’t want to kill them? Patterico has a multi-parter, an interview with a fellow who has spent time among the prisoners of Gitmo and has gotten to know some of them well. Yeah, they still want him to die and his family, too, and they’re promising to kill him, but it’s nothing personal…just business. Read this fascinating and extensive interview, if you read nothing else today: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3. Parts 4 and 5 to come. I suggest printing these out and giving them full attention.

Does the press report great economic news under Bush differently (more negatively) than they did under Clinton? Sensible Mom did some research and brings empirical evidence to the answer…which is YES. Sensible Mom is a financial analyst and all-around smart cookie, and she’s no one to trifle with!

Ummm…Is Chuck Schumer misidentifying the enemy, and the war or is he too clever by half? Too clever, I’m thinking and all this cleverness (as opposed to wisdom) is destroying us.

Dutch Sha’ria law? Pajamas Media a great piece up at Politics Central on how political expediency trumps political correctness, by Pieter Dorsman.

Nevertheless, the Dutch tension over immigration and integration remains palpable and it takes very little to let it erupt. A few weeks ago, Justice Minister Donner – known for his legalistic approach to most issues – said in an interview that if two-thirds of the Dutch population would support it, the Dutch constitution would have to be amended in order to introduce Sharia law. The immediate broad public outburst over the minister’s remarks was, given their factual and legal basis in the principle of majority rule, surprising.

How important is narrative? Dr. Sanity quotes Austin Bay.

Is it ever too late to fisk President Clinton? The End Zone says no, and he fisks the former president fully and comprehensively. Quite a lot of work and worth reading.

Would the school mind if she read the Koran at lunch? They didn’t like it when this kid read the bible on her own time, but don’t many public schools put aside special prayer rooms for their Muslim students during Ramadan? And they can justify the double-standard how? And, ummm…what IS the answer to the original question - would they be harrassing this kid for reading a Koran?

Do you know what the problem is with the GOP? The angry Real Ugly American does.

Are Democrats secret homophobes or just too politically cute for their own good? Fausta thinksFoleygate is showing the Democrats own homophobia, while AJ wonders if ABC news covered up child abuse to hold the story. Blue Crab says The Dems are again overplaying their hand, again and again. Confederate Yankee surmises that Confederate Yankee says this story may bite the Democrats in the butt, too, if they’ve withheld evidence of a crime, just to “time” the story for October. All I know is dirt if flying dirt is flying all over and both parties have their share of creeps.

UPDATE: Gateway Pundit seems to think this story is about to burst and get very, very messy for the Dems.

Did the CIA misled the Bush admin before 9/11? AJ is wondering.

What’s the Plamegate Bottom Line? This, I guess.

Is CBS reeling a bit from just how heavy blogmail can be? Apparently they’re still getting tons of feedback from from their freeSpeech barnburner. It must be a rude awakening for some over there to wade through the hate mail! Meanwhile, Betsy Newmark has some insight about the nature of free speech and whether it is disappearing from our grasp.

Are bloggers sort of like New Pampleteers? Check out Adam Bellow and PJM.

Are these the most disgusting people in the world?. Maybe. Just maybe they are. Ugly, ugly, ugly. These repugnant people aside, neo-neocon has thoughts thoughts about the Lancaster tragedy and pacifism.

Final Question: Are you feeling the need to be uplifted a little, spiritually, and don’t mind if it’s from a Catholic viewpoint? Julie has the goods!