Something Beautiful Has Begun

Peggy Noonan, one of my favorite columnists, and a catholic, has written a piece (here's the link) contrasting Pope John Paul II with Benedict XVI. "Something beautiful has begun." Perhaps so. Here's my favorite graph:

John Paul made you burst into tears. Benedict makes you think. It is more pleasurable to weep, but at the moment, perhaps it is more important to think.

That would be nice, to have a thinking church for a change.

Sex Ed on Campus

Here's a great column on the sexuality of today's college-aged students. Read it at the WSJ. Here's a sample:
After conducting a national college survey of over 2,500 students, I found that among those who reported "hooking up" -- a range of sexually intimate acts, from kissing to intercourse, that occur outside a committed relationship -- at Catholic and nonreligious private and public colleges and universities, 41% are profoundly upset about their behavior.

I'm going to have to chat about this a bit, but right now I've got to go. More later.

The Myth of Obama

Charles Krauthammer's new column mentions, among other things, the "myth of Obama."
Read it here.

Excellent Column Comparing MLK and BHO

Here's a great column by Juan Williams comparing/contrasting MLK to and with Barak Hussein Obama. He has expressed some of my own concerns.

Here is a key graph:

So far, Mr. Obama has been content to let black people have their vision of him while white people hold to a separate, segregated reality. He is a politician and, unlike King, his goal is winning votes, not changing hearts. Still, it is a key break from the King tradition to sell different messages to different audiences based on race, and to fail to challenge racial divisions in the nation.

Read the whole thing. It is well done.

UPDATE:

Another column by Richard John Neuhaus, at First Things, is also very sensitive and well written. In his opinion, the whole Obama/Wright issue is setting back race relations in this country, and I agree.

A Huge Decision for Conservative Anglican Churches

A court in Virginia has apparently ruled that conservative churches which broke away from the national church over issues related to human sexuality can keep their property and assets. Here's the story in the WaTimes. This is the largest case of its kind in the US. Here are some blog reactions: from Stand Firm, Transfigurations, and here's the whole decision (in .pdf format).

UPDATE:

More responses: VirtueOnline, from the Anglican District of Virginia (ADV), and from the TimesOnline. Now from the Office of the Presiding Bishop, and from Christianity Today.