Greenhut agrees

With some of my LJ friends:

You know how much I hate to say it. But sometimes – well, maybe a little more than sometimes – these columns sound as if the writer forgot to take his meds. Let’s go back to Dr. Ghate’s "A Passion Against Man." It was great, really. I loved it. Brilliant stuff. Except for a couple places in the beginning, middle, and end, it would be perfect.

Let me make a comment of my own here. Ghate's article is an absurd travesty if it is taken as the last word on what I have come to profess as orthodox Christianity. But as a comment on the kind of religiosity many see reflected in the Gibson flick, which was all too common among the Roman Catholics of my childhood and seems to be all but universal in some Evangelical circles -- is it all that far from the mark?

Sometimes we need the Holy Order of Saint Ayn to keep the rest of us honest.

Robert Ellsberg on St. Patrick

[I]n a land that had been rent asunder by the memory of ancient crimes and injustices, it should be remembered that St. Patrick was himself the victim of Irish injustice before he ever became the symbol of Irish pride. His extraordinary return to the site of his oppression -- not to wreak his vengeance, but to implant reconciling seeds of his own hard-won faith -- deserves appropriate commemoration. The gospel drove Patrick to return to his oppressors that he might devote his life to their peaceful conversion and the cause of their salvation. But the spiritual conquest of Ireland followed the prior victory of love over anger and bitterness in his own heart. If the memory of this dimension of St. Patrick's life had long ago become a feature of his feast day celebration, it might be truly said that there are no serpents left in Ireland.

When you click on the above, take the time to visit the rest of the site, which I have mentioned before.

If you can't make it to the parade tomorrow, and in my thirty-four years in New York I still have not, at least think of this remarkable man and what he was all about. And perhaps allow yourself to be moved to an act of humble reconciliation with a shot of the Protestant spirit or a pint of the Quaker stout.

Red China Bites the Dust

China's parliament has agreed to landmark changes to the constitution that will protect private property for the first time since the 1949 revolution, reports BBC Online (03/15).

Sunday's endorsement came on the final day of the National People's Congress annual meeting in Beijing. The BBC's Beijing correspondent says with this vote, China is abandoning one of the key pillars of communism. The vote to amend the 1982 constitution was passed with 2,863 in favor to 10 against, with 17 abstentions. Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said that the "changes to the constitution are of great significance to the development of China." But he also warned that China's economy is at a critical juncture, and that the country's system of governance has to keep in step with the transformation to a capitalistic economy. "Without success in political restructuring, economic reforms in China cannot eventually succeed," he said at a press conference at the close of the annual session. China's parliament also voted to enshrine human rights in the constitution, for the first time. The mention of human rights reads: "The state respects and preserves human rights." Although it is the constitution's first reference to the issue, analysts say such a brief mention is ambiguous and makes no mention of political freedom.

[Courtesy of the World Bank. Who else?]

At Cross Purposes

"When he realized that he was unable to nail his other hand to the board, he called 911," Boucher said.

It was unclear whether the man was seeking assistance for his injury or help in nailing down his other hand.