Gilbert & Frances Runner-Up Named

Our friend Furor did not win the scholarship this year, but posts his excellent essay.

The Everlasting Man Mind Blockers

Thanks to those of you who told me your "Ah-haa!" moments while reading Everlasting Man.

Now, for those of you who had difficulty reading TEM, would you share with me where you got stumped, what stopped you, what chapter got you bogged down?

I know many people start and stop, restart and stop Everlasting Man. Why do you think that happens? Is there just too much in it?

What Would Chesterton Say?

It's great that NY was able to decide that children need a mother and a father, but what about this assertion that:

'"The Legislature could find that unstable relationships between people of the opposite sex present a greater danger that children will be born into or grow up in unstable homes than is the case with same-sex couples," who must plan more deliberately to raise children, the decision said.'

Are they saying that it is "less unstable" for a child to grow up with a so-called "same-sex" couple because they must plan more deliberately to raise children? It would seem so.

One of our readers has formulated a response to this (in a debate with a friend) and wonders if anyone can help him out with this.

Tom said:

The New York State Supreme Court recently ruled that NY state law does not permit same sex marriage and that banning such marriages is not unconstitutional.

The ruling states that it is better for children to "grow up with both a mother and a father" yet, following the tortured logic behind the Court's decision is somewhat painful. At one point, the court appears concerned with the possibility that married couples might actually procreate:

"Heterosexual intercourse has a natural tendency to lead to the birth of children; homosexual intercourse does not. (Homosexual couples) . . . do not become parents as a result of accident or impulse . . .

The Legislature could find that unstable relationships between people of the opposite sex present a greater danger that children will be born into or grow up in unstable homes than is the case with same-sex couples."

The Court takes their unfathomable logic to the conclusion that because homosexual unions produce "more stable relationships," a ban on same sex marriage cannot be struck down. A July 14th Op-Ed piece in the New York
Times (available on-line for a fee here, dubbed this the "Reckless Procreation Model" and went on to assert that the Court was essentially stating that gay marriage could be banned because "homosexuals were too good for marriage."

I would contend that the Court is essentially telling us that since marriage has become "reckless," we should abandon the institution entirely. Since our culture of death has created frivolous marriage, largely by allowing frivolous divorce, the ideal of the institution is hereafter meaningless.

How far we have fallen. Marriage has not been tried and found wanting, it has been found difficult and therefore abandoned. If there is a better testimony to Chesterton's assertion that the western world is living off of and using up its Catholic capital, I haven't come across it.

All our concepts of marriage, the virtues we consider normal based on our cultural and religious heritage, make sense in the concept of the definition of marriage - a union between one man and one woman. The concepts of monogamy, fidelity, and even incest (Can a father marry his son?) begin from this core. Our laws against same sex marriage are no more discriminatory than the law against polygamy is unfairly restrictive to some Mormons or, to take it to another level, the law of gravity is unfairly oppressive to obese people.

Same sex marriage is much more an oxymoron than a civil rights issue.

That being said, I ask you to please not group me with those who use this issue as an excuse for bigotry and hatred. At that point, the issue truly does become one of discrimination and civil rights; it becomes a cause I will march for, shoulder to shoulder with all who strive to protect human dignity, including Justices whose logic I find somewhat reckless.

After all, I am called by Christ to love and respect people for the divine creations that they are.

Does anyone have anything to add? Tom is debating this with a friend right now, and wants to know what other points he can make to make his point. Thanks for any Chestertonian help.

Chestertonian Answer?

I recently read in the paper that 8 percent of medical patients can't speak English and need interpreters, or they won't/don't get good medical care.

This percentage is more than just the newly-arrived-who-haven't-had-English-lessons-yet.

And I am old enough to have grandparents who came into this country, determined to learn the language, and who did not even allow their own children (my parents) to learn their native tongue (French) so that their kids would grow up with English.

What ever happened to that mentality? The one that says, "When in America, become American" (and therefore speak English)?.

Because English is our country's language, I feel that immigrants should learn English. It helps assimilate into the culture, and it certainly would help in medical emergency situations. I don't think the medical community should have to worry about lack of interpretation when it is a cultural issue that our country is not dealing with. Medical people need to have medical skills, that's what we pay them for.

Friends recently moved to Luxembourg, where the natives speak Luxembourgish, German, and French. Our friends did not decide that they would just find English speaking friends and dismiss the native languages. The parents learned French and are now taking Luxembourgish language lessons, the children are learning Luxembourgish in school and taking French lessons with tutors. They have English-speaking friends, why are they working so hard to learn these languages (even such an obscure one as Luxembourgish)? Because they are Christians who would like to evangelize others, and in order to do their work effectively, they need to speak the native language. They aren't assuming that everyone will accomodate them in their English speaking.

I think we are doing people a grave disservice to allow a lack of English speaking to remain a part of immigrant's lives. We condemn them to a life of working with others who can speak their language at McDonald's or becoming a maid in a hotel, or a lawn service person for those who can afford that.

Of course it is a benefit to be able to speak two languages. So I am not saying that what my grandparents did was a good thing. They could have taught my dad both French and English, but they didn't want to, that was their way then, and that's OK.

But we can't say that knowing only one language, if it is not English (when you live in America), is a good thing. It isn't.

Voting time for the Triolet Contest

Sheila is asking for votes in the Triolet contest. The entries are all VERY GOOD, so it will be difficult to pick the winners. Congratulations to all entries, they are excellent.

Now, go vote here.

Thunderclap or Ahh-Haaa! moments in The Everlasting Man

Up from the combox.

If you've read The Everlasting Man, what were the points, if you would be so kind as to point them out, where your mind just reeled, or your mind opened up as never before, or you saw everything more clearly; and also, where was it muddy, where did you get bogged down, where did you wish if only someone could explain this?

I would be interested to know.

Gilbert & Frances Scholarship

Inquiring Minds are starting to inquire, and I don't know the answer, but maybe one of you readers does.

When will the Gilbert & Frances Scholarship 2006 announcements be made?

I'm sure the Inquiring Minds Who Are Trying To Plan for Fall Tuition Payments will thank you for any information.

Rereading TEM

I have insider news for you. There is something in the works for the near future for an "annotated" Everlasting Man. I want to tell you right now, that if you don't own a copy of The Everlasting Man (TEM for short), you should. And when the new one comes out, you'll want that. Stay tuned.

Notification on the Next Gilbert Issue

I want to let you all know that despite heroic efforts up to now to get Gilbert magazine back on schedule, we've run into a small problem. She is very small. Less that a year old, I'm told. And she's very sick. We asked you to pray for her here. Her father is an irreplaceable person in the production of Gilbert, so, in allowing him time to care for his daughter, we need to once again delay the production of the July/August (I believe) issue.

Pass the word on to whomever you know should know.

And pray for a sick little girl named Lucy. Thanks.

Did you notice....

Just the other day, I was paging through the latest Gilbert, and noticed that the little 37 cent stamp illustration atop the "Lunacy & Letters" page had added a 2 cent stamp to it, reflecting our postal service's recent increase.

I thought I was so clever to notice this, but then went back through previous Gilberts and saw that it had actually changed back in the March issue (3 issues ago). Oh well, so much for thinking I'm highly observant ;-)

This is How I Learned Chesterton Wrote about Croquet

I played croquet as a kid. Naturally, not at the championship level. At the home backyard level.

Confession Time

My girls are big Nancy Drew fans. And a few years ago, we discovered that Her Interactive has been making computer games based on the book mysteries. The first few were rather primative, but since then, the graphics have just gotten better and better.

The games are so much fun that I, ah, ahem!...have been known to wait till certain younger people are in bed, and then I start a new game under my own name, and play it for hours. They are really, really fun, especially if you like Nancy, Ned, Bess and George. Oh, you get to call Hannah Gruen, too, for advice.

Chris Chan reviewed the new Agatha Christie Cd-rom game in the latest Gilbert magazine, and it sounds like it would be similar to the Nancy Drews.

EXCEPT THAT THE AGATHA CHRISTIE IS ONLY MADE FOR PC not MAC. Well, that ends my little daydream about trying this mystery out some time late at night. *Sigh*

Local Chesterton Societies Need This Study Guide

If you are involved in your local Chesterton society, wouldn't you think it would be fun to read the very first Father Brown mystery, The Blue Cross, and go into it in depth, including a big discussion on the use of Reason (like Father Brown and Flambeau)?

Or

Are you a teacher at the 8th grade or High School level, looking for a way to introduce the student's to Chesterton's work?

Or

Are you a CCD or Religious Ed. teacher, looking for a good way to introduce your student's to the first Father Brown mystery, and therefore help them enter the world of Chesterton's work?

Well! All your dreams will come true, if you just buy this study guide. Not only does it contain the Entire Text of The Blue Cross in it (so you and your student's don't have to purchase another book) which saves time and money, but it contains a helpful study section with questions (and an answer key) to get you started on your Chestertonian discussions.

Such a deal!

So don't hesitate! Buy 10 or 20 for Your Class Today!

They'll believe in anything...

This is a very strange story. Related to art. And Religion. Strange.

Maple Syrup Chestertonians

Got this note from Liz:

You helped Patrick find Chestertonians in Kentucky, could you do the same for me
in Vermont? I know I've got at least one young Chestertonian in the Burlington area
because I turned him on to Chesterton and now he recommends books to me.
However, other than a few other young students I don't know anyone. Do any other
Vermonters over 30 (or 40, or 50) read Chesterton at all? Dare I hope there are
some avid Chestertonians out there who'd like to get a Vermont Chesterton Society
started, but think they are all alone as well?

Maybe someone could look and see how many Gilbert subscribers are from
Vermont.

Liz
Anyone who can help Liz, e-mail me or respond in the comments. Thanks. I thank you. My pancakes thank Vermont.

New Link

Over on the left there in the sidebar is a new link for questions, concerns, comments or problems with your Gilbert magazine subscriptions.

I've just been in communication with the head of subscriptions and there had been a temporary lack of renewal notices being sent out, however, there will be a renewal of the renewal notices being sent out this week. Thank you for your patience, cooperation, and your continuing support of Gilbert magazine and the ACS.

And might I suggest, the three year subscription (while you are there, just go ahead and make a tax deductible contribution, it's right on the same page) makes it so handy to just ensure that you'll get Gilbert for a long, long time, and won't miss a single Flying Stars column, a...ahem....I mean issue. So just go ahead and treat yourself to the three years. You can do it right now, even if your subscription isn't about to expire. That way you won't have to get that renewal notice. Sneaky, aren't we? :-)

ChesterTeens Listening to Conference Tapes

and reviewing said tapes here and here. Fun reading.

Spam Hits Chesterton: Frances Calls the Cleaners

We started getting spam here, so I've had to turn on the Word Verification thingy.

Now don't let that thing scare you away from making a comment. You can still comment to your heart's desire. You'll just have one more little step to do before you send it. And in that moment of waiting, send up a little prayer for the ACS and all the work we do here. Thanks.

Bluegrass Chestertonians?

I like the sound of that.

Patrick asks me:
Do you know of any Chesterton fans in Kentucky, especially central KY ? It gets lonely out here. Would love to be able to get together with other Chestertonians to read and discuss.

I don't know of any. The only Kentuckian I am related to is not a Chestertonian. But should be.

If anyone out there knows anyone in KY, e-mail me. Maybe our Fearless Leader (a.k.a. Chestertonian) would know if any Gilbert subscribers are out that way?

Or maybe Patrick should just go ahead, bite the bullet, and start a Chesterton Society out there. Advertise, and see who comes.

The Art of Democracy by David Fagerberg

"Democracy needs a place of privacy, which means, if we flip the words in the other order, private property. Chesterton's interest in defending Distributism is to defend human liberty and dignity, regardless of what he thinks of a home makeover edition that juxtaposes pea green with pink spots. The extraordinary artist could no doubt teach the democrat a better color combination, and the capitalist may have a bigger wall to paint than the democrat does, and the housing conglomerate may have built the walls too close to one another, but at least the democratic artists has a wall to paint."

It was the pea green house with the pink spots that reminded me of the Purple House. And speaking an a non-artist, I think pea green and pink do go together.

Regina Doman--Sad News

Very sad news. Regina Doman, Chestertonian friend who was interviewed in Gilbert magazine, and author of Angel in the Waters, Black as Night, and Shadow of the Bear, lost her little four year old boy in a car accident over the weekend. May he rest in peace. And may God give comfort to this grieving mother and father and all the siblings.

The Purple House

If any of you live near Milwaukee, you might know about the purple house. I wish I had a picture of it to show you. Next time I pass it, I'll take one.

This house is on the way to my sister's house, so I see it often. As we pass it, we always say, "Look at that purple house!"

It isn't just purple. There are flowers painted all around it, the fence is also purple, and the landscaping is such that it appears to never have been mowed, or perhaps it is a naturalized planting that isn't supposed to be mowed.

The house is right on a corner and highly visible in the neighborhood.

Anyway, reading David Fagerberg's article today on "The Art of Democracy" made me think of the Purple House. Tomorrow, I'll tell you why. If you don't figure it out for yourself.

Got my Gilbert

I'm out of town this weekend, so I will get absorbing the June issue, and we can discuss on Monday. I hope you got your copy, too!

The Signature of Man

Ahlquist has a chapter in Common Sense 101 called The Signature of Man.

It is all about art. And since this family of mine depends on people's appreciation (and really, subsequent purchase) of art (my husband is an artist, and we make our living at it) I was very interested in this chapter.

One of the things we've particularly noticed in the art world is that there is a stuffy sort of "high art" mentality, which sees "Ugly is Art" and "If we don't understand it, it must be art" as art, and then there are regular people, who seem to want understandable and even beautiful art to hang in the living room.

One problem is that the "high art" people stand in the way of the regular people. The professional artists, the university trained art teachers, the gallery owners and such kind of "gate keep" the art from (or for) the common man.

In our art world, we must jury into art shows. The jurists are usually these "high art" types. However, the people who attend the shows and see the booth, and are our potential customers, are all regular people, looking not for some un-explainable mess on a piece of canvas, but for something nice to go with the new paint on the living room walls.

So we play a "game" of trying to find a piece of art (or actually 4 or 5 pieces of art) that will work as slides to get us into a show, but not be too awful or strange that we wouldn't want to hang that art in our booth. If what juries you in to a show gets you in the show, but then no one buys it, it's hardly worth getting into the show. And the rules demand that whatever you jury in with must be what is seen in the booth.

So we continually search for the unusual thing, the vague whatever that will strike the eye and interest both the "high art" types, as well as the mass of people who buy art as interior decor.

Happy Birthday America

Dale's lecture about Chesterton's book (Volume 21)What I Saw in America.

"Because Chesterton is a universal writer whose truths transcend national boundaries, we often assume that what he writes about England is also true of the United States. And often it is. However, the two countries are not the same. Chesterton uses every opportunity to point out the differences between the two, the characteristics that make each country unique. ("All good Americans wish to fight the representatives they have chosen. All good Englishmen wish to forget the representatives they have chosen.") It is a fundamental doctrine of Chesterton that each country is unique and that its distinctive qualities, customs, and traditions should be preserved. Thus, visiting each unique place would broaden our minds, no?

No. Chesterton begins this book with one of his typical paradoxes: "I have never managed to lose my old conviction that travel narrows the mind." Now why is that?

Because a man in his own home is inside all other men. It is a universal experience. He thinks the great thoughts. But a man traveling is amused or appalled by a thousand distractions and trivial things, even if they are very interesting. It is the traveler who thinks the small thoughts, and there is a danger that these secondary things could replace the primary things." Dale Ahlquist on Chesterton

Happy 4th. I hope you have a wonderful day at home, with family, thinking great thoughts.

Theater for the Common Man

If you live in the St. Louis area, check out the Performance Schedule of Upstage Productions. The main man is a Chestertonian, who shared his talents with us this year in the play The Surprise, and a couple years ago he came as H. Belloc himself, reciting some famous poem or another.

Thomas Paine? Or Ahlquist?

I'm reading the Ahlquist, of course.

It is a great book.

I wish I could write like that. And quote Chesterton like that. I think I need a few more years of Chesterton-immersion-school.

June issue of Gilbert

Reports are filtering in to me that some people across the country have actually received their June Gilberts in June.

However, I was not one of them.

If you have received yours, and there's something in there you want to talk about here, let me know.

Meanwhile, I'll be watching my mailbox.