Commonweal articles from September 2002

Commonweal archives from September 2002

To the editors. (Correspondence).
September 13, 2002... `Veigh' off course Patrick Giles's article on Simone Weil ("Looking for Simone," May 3) was very good; but writing from this side of the pond, I have to point out that he sets her grave in a nonexistent town. There is no...

Where are we now?
September 13, 2002... Where is the United States one year after the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington? On September 11, 2002, observances throughout the country will pay sober and heartfelt homage to the thousands who died in attacks on the World Trade...

To war: what about the Iraqi people? (Of Several Minds).
September 13, 2002... As we mark the anniversary of September 11, we can reflect--with some humility--on how we have not been changed into a better and more serious people. Remember the solemn sense, following the first attack on our nation since World War II, that...

Reforming the church: will we all become saints? (Of Several Minds).
September 13, 2002... In too many instances the reaction of Catholics to the church's sexual-abuse scandal has been as demoralizing as the scandal itself. Conservative Catholics, for example, are making a concerted and frankly demagogic effort to blame the crisis on...

The bottom line: the limits of corporate regulation.
September 13, 2002... How do we make sense of the stream of corporate scandals that now include WorldCom, Enron, Global Crossing, Tyco International, Adelphia Communications, Qwest, RiteAid, and even Xerox? One place to start is to recognize that gross misbehavior...

Communitarian lite: American Catholics & their politics.
September 13, 2002... When President George W. Bush gave the commencement speech at the University of Notre Dame in 2001, he did not hesitate to invoke the legacy of Dorothy Day, the patron saint of American Catholic radicalism, and proclaim "God's special concern...

After the sex-abuse scandal: What lies ahead? Donald Cozzens.
September 13, 2002... Many hope that the worst of the sexual-abuse crisis is over. Frankly, I fear the worst is yet to come. Consider the battered church of Boston and the not-guilty plea entered on June 11 by accused priest Paul Shanley, who claims he was himself...

After the sex-abuse scandal: What lies ahead? Sidney Callahan.
September 13, 2002... The unknown future induces hope and fear. But one event is certain: John Paul II will eventually pass from the scene. Even his iron will and sense of mission cannot keep him going forever. The next pope to be elected will affect the course of...

Two-headed rattler.
September 13, 2002... Two-headed rattler. At first you took my word for it, the legend rich enough for a child new to tales, and new to the truth-- how the big one coiled along the glass wall, and all the smaller could do was...

After the sex-abuse scandal: What lies ahead? John C. Cavadini.
September 13, 2002... What are my hopes for the church in the aftermath of the sexual-abuse crisis? That question is easy to answer because the answer has already been given. I think Vatican II's vision of the church as the body of Christ in which all members, each...

Summer summary: 'signs,' 'Greek wedding,' 'rain,' & more. (Screen).
September 13, 2002... Some summer closeout reflections on movies I didn't get to talk about--and you might not have gotten to see--in recent months: First, the jury is still out on M. Night Shyamalan, the young filmmaker recently hailed by Newsweek as "the next...

Mixing it up: Richard Rodriguez on 'Brown'. (Culture Watch).
September 13, 2002... If you go to a bookstore to buy Richard Rodriguez's Brown: The Last Discovery of America (Viking; see review, page 30), you might find it, as I did, in the sociology section. And, gazing at the author's markedly Hispanic face on the front of...

Honoring the dead.
September 13, 2002... Under discussion: Firehouse David Halberstam Hyperion, $22.95, 201 pp. Report from Ground Zero Dennis Smith Viking, $24.95, 359 pp. "102 Minutes" Jim Dwyer, Eric Lipton, Kevin Flynn, James Glanz, and Ford Fessenden,...

The melted pot.
September 13, 2002... Brown The Last Discovery of America Richard Rodriguez Viking, $24.95, 232pp. I salute Richard Nixon," explains Richard Rodriguez, "the dark father of Hispanicity." The line is perfect. On display are Rodriguez's mordant wit and...

Christianity & crisis.
September 13, 2002... Landscapes of the Soul The Loss of Moral Meaning in American Life Douglas Porpora Oxford University Press, $27.50, 356 pp. The Next Christendom The Coming of Global Christianity Philip Jenkins Oxford University Press, $28, 272...

Southern comforts.
September 13, 2002... Deep in the Shade of Paradise John Dufresne W. W. Norton, $25.95, 364 pp. John Dufresne has published three complicated novels set in two complicated worlds, but worlds apart. The middle book, Love Warps the Mind a Little, takes...

Watch your language. (The Last Word).
September 13, 2002... September 11 has been a subject much on our minds in the last month. It is not a topic we have strayed far from in the last year--it seems always to be at the periphery of just about every conversation we have had over the last twelve...

To the editors. (Correspondence).
September 27, 2002... Priceless I've been a reader for half a century, ever since coming across Commonweal at my public library as a high-schooler. As I was paying bills recently, I wrote you a check to renew my subscription, and said, "Wow! Forty-seven...

State of the unions.
September 27, 2002... What is the significance of the New York Times's decision (September 1) to include "public celebrations of commitment by gay and lesbian couples" in its Sunday "Weddings" pages? For many, the question is Why did it take the Times so long to...

Discontent & its globalization: Stiglitz's less-than-Nobel theory. (Of Several Minds).
September 27, 2002... Amazing what a Nobel Prize plus an axe to grind can do for your book sales. Columbia University economist Joseph Stiglitz's recent Globalization and Its Discontents (W. W. Norton) is not a particularly original work. A reflection on Stiglitz's...

Cronies of empire: guilt points to Washington.
September 27, 2002... The values of a republic clash with the logic of empire. This conflict played out in July in a Florida courtroom. Three Salvadoran-born residents of the United States brought suit against General Jose Guillermo Garcia and General Carlos Eugenio...

Zero tolerance? Taking another look.
September 27, 2002... Kenneth Lasch A reluctant yes n As anticipated, media coverage of sexual abuse by clergy seems to be cresting, at least to some degree. However, the crisis remains one of tragic proportions and should receive the attention of church...

Friendship & desire: Augustine reviews `Will & Grace'.
September 27, 2002... Will and Grace are the main characters in NBC's wildly successful sitcom about the relationship between a gay man of deliberate sensibility (he's a lawyer) and a free-spirited straight woman (she's an interior designer) who share a New York...

A Summer Sunday, 1934.
September 27, 2002... A Summer Sunday, 1934 Hands empty at her waist, waiting to receive me, my mother smiles at me in my father's arms. Sleeves loose and cool, a cascade of lace at her chest: it must be Sunday. I am nine months old,...

Iraq & just-war thinking: the presumption against the use of force.
September 27, 2002... The Washington view about war with Iraq has moved precipitously from "a rumor of war" to "foregone conclusion." Although prominent policy makers, including Republicans, have questioned the wisdom of the Bush administration's call for regime...

Blue-light specials: `one hour photo' & `the good girl'. (Screen).
September 27, 2002... Robin Williams has a Jekyll and Hyde kind of career. Williams's triumphant roles have been the ones tailored to fit his shtick--the jumped-up, troublemaking DJ of Good Morning Vietnam, or the madcap, gender-bending Mrs. Doubtfire. These...

At the barricades.
September 27, 2002... The Clash of Orthodoxies Law, Religion, and Morality in Crisis Robert P. George ISI Books, $24.95, 387 pp. Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover. That seems to be the case with Robert P. George's Clash of Orthodoxies, subtitled Law,...

His old Kentucky home.
September 27, 2002... No Heroes A Memoir of Coming Home Chris Offutt Simon & Schuster, $24, 268 pp. Lives there a transplanted Southerner who does not dream of going home a hero? Having betrayed the values of continuity and family by crossing state lines for...

Never say die.
September 27, 2002... The Dream of Eternal Life Biomedicine, Aging, and Immortality Mark Benecke Translated by Rachel Rubenstein Columbia University Press, $27.95, 256 pp. The reasons why old age seems unhappy and is feared, Cicero made Cato say in De...

The Book: a History of the Bible.
September 27, 2002... Christopher De Hamel Phaidon, $39.95, 352 pp. A few years ago I gave Harry Gamble's Books and Readers in the Early Church (1995) an enthusiastic review here. Gamble studied the actual process of the production of books--especially, biblical...

The Spiritual Franciscans.
September 27, 2002... David Burr Penn State Press, $45, 427 pp. Unlike the other mendicant orders founded in the thirteenth century, the Franciscans were blessed, and burdened, by having a profoundly charismatic founder. When Saint Francis died in 1226, the...

Saint Joseph in Italian Renaissance Art.
September 27, 2002... Carolyn C. Wilson Saint Joseph's University Press, $49.95, 281pp. Peter John Olivi and Ubertino da Casale figure prominently in Burr's book. They also have a place in Wilson's study of Saint Joseph in Italian Renaissance painting, because...

Lord of the ring. (The Last Word).
September 27, 2002... Bishops were special. Cardinal archbishops even more so. It was 1954, the Marian Year. The place was Soldier Field, Chicago's huge football stadium, and we were at the end of the Holy Name Holy Hour. The place was filled to capacity with...