God's Philosophers

Announcing a very interesting and exciting new book: God's Philosophers: How the Medieval World Laid the Foundations of Modern Science by James Hannam, which is getting great reviews. I hope to read it very soon.

Does God Exist? A Modern Debate

It took place recently at Biola University in California.

I wish Chesterton had been on the other side of that stage, don't you? I mean, how easy it is to say, "you have the burden of proof, since you say God exists. *I* don't have to prove anything, since I say he doesn't exist."

(I can see Chesterton chuckling to himself, and taking notes with a pencil on scraps of paper while Mr. Hitchens speaks. Then, he may turn and say, "Well, maybe you don't have to prove God exists, since you, though a notable orator and skilled debater on a variety of subjects, cannot take up this simplest of subjects; perhaps you'd like to prove to us then your own existence. Are you real, Mr. Hitchens? Are you alive, Mr. Hitchens? How do you prove your own existence and what, exactly, and more importantly I might add, are you existing for? For what purpose and meaning is your life, to go round the country telling people their beliefs are nonsense? Then, by virtue of your own words, your own beliefs are nonsense. For people believe, Mr. Hitchens, in dogma, whether they know they do, or not." Or something like that, and chuckling and smiling all the time.)

Yes, Mr. Hitchens. That's why you make money on books about how God doesn't exist, by stating you don't have anything to prove?

Well, this sounds like a lower form of evolution to me. And a lower form of debate, too.

The first principle of debate is for the sides to be open to being persuadable. Mr. Hitchens is obviously dogmatically tied to his doctrine. The Christians were too nice to him. They should have brought out swords and prepared to fight to the death. Mr. Hitchens has already proved for years he is unmoved by words. He needs a "Chesterton" to befriend him and love him into faith (which still might not happen--look at Shaw), or someone to threaten him, like in a foxhole, or a 9-11, or a miracle. His heart is completely hardened. This can't be fixed on one evening's debate.

Madonna Admonished to Leave the Fence Up

At the hearing, the Malawi judge, Esme Chombo, quoted Chesterton.

Thanks to Roy Moore for additional info:

I found this report from the London Daily Mail on Madonna's failed attempt - so far - to adopt a second Malawian baby. The lady judge who is handling the case -- who denied Madonna's request for adoption -- zinged the arrogant pop star with this statement. Which, BTW, includes a delightful quote from the Mighty Gilbert:

The law, she (the judge) said in her ruling, stated that an adoption could not be permitted to anyone who was not resident in Malawi, noting that Madonna had jetted in just days prior to Monday's hearing.

'The issue of residence, I find, is the key upon which the question of adoption rests, and it is the very bedrock of protection that our children need; it must, therefore, not be tampered with.

'As wisely put by G. K. Chesterton: "Don't ever take a fence down until you know the reason why it was put up."'

Update: Filming Manalive

From Dale:

We started shooting the movie “Manalive” last week. Here are a couple of pictures from the set. Mark Shea as Innocent Smith “holding a gun to the head of modern man.” [ed. note: Mark keeps his readers up to date via his blog] And director Joey Odendahl and the so-called Executive Producer [ed. note: that's Dale] surveying the rooftop of “Beacon House”. Things are off to a great start. The cast and crew are starting to gel.

Filming will continue in Savannah to the end of the month. Then we will film some scenes in Seattle in April. Editing and scoring will take a few months.

It’s especially heartbreaking that Ann Petta will not get to see this movie. It was a project especially dear to her.

I reminded Dale that Ann *will* see this movie, and is perhaps working with the crew already. She'll have the best seat in the house when it plays. ;-)

Backwards Thinking

Seems quite Chestertonian. Via Rob D. Thanks.

I. Can't. Wait!

You have GOT to go see this, wow, I am so excited! The fifth season of Apostle of Common Sense, and plus all this other news of exciting programs being filmed right now at EWTN, cool! Using the modern means of tv, we evangelize the world!

See Dale Live!

Well, sort of. He was on EWTN live last Wednesday night, and for a short while, you can view the show in the archives of the EWTN Live show listing.

Here's how you do it:

1. Click on the EWTN TV page.

2. Scroll down to where it says Archived Video.

3. Click on either the 100K or 300K download, depending on your connection, and there you will instantly be able to watch the show, even though you don't have EWTN on cable!

Pop some popcorn, and watch the show!

UPDATE: I've just tried watching 3-4 times, and can't get past the first 4 minutes, has anyone been able to view the whole thing? (It may be a browser/media player problem on my end, or maybe not!) Let me know if you can see it and what browser works. Thanks.

In case your readers are not aware already, there exists a monthly based on Chesterton in Madrid, Spain. This publication is called "Chesterton" and is a magazine dedicated to current analysis based on Chesterton's common sense.

Thanks to reader: Rich

Tony Snow on the Media

H/T: The Anchoress.
I believe GKC would have liked this speech.

We also hear the the First Ammendment is under siege. I think that's true. I don't believe anyone here would disagree with the proposition that the quality of public discourse isn't what it once was or that it presently achieves levels of excellence and depth that it desperately needs to reach.

Yet—while it may be tempting to blame the usual suspects—the government, interest groups, angry factionalists—those forces frequently have always tried to restrict the free flow of ideas, and they always have failed.

They're not the culprits here. Instead, there's a new an unexpected menace on the block: The media.

Although Mr. Snow could use some grammar lessons. "frequently have always"?