A review of religion, politics, and culture since 1924, edited by lay Catholics. Subscribe here: http://commonwealmagazine.org/subscribe
"Instead of projecting confidence by looking candidly at Democrats’ mistakes, the report portrayed a party committed to self-protective dissembling." @alexwstern.bsky.social: Why can't democrats seem to have the right conversations?
The Discourse PartyThe Democratic Party needs centrists capable of self-criticism and leftists capable of self-discipline. The current state of the discourse militates against both.www.commonwealmagazine.org"Concentration of so much wealth in so few hands can cripple a democratic society." The Editors: 'Tax the Rich'
Tax the RichThe United States has made it much easier for the merely rich to become stratospherically wealthy. It's long past time to reverse course.www.commonwealmagazine.orgSenate candidate Abdul El-Sayed’s anti-war populism is resonating in the Rust Belt. @jhvassallo.bsky.social breaks down a central battleground for the future of the Democratic Party: www.commonwealmagazine.org/vassallo-mic...
Too Radical for Michigan?The Senate race in Michigan has swiftly replaced Maine’s as the central battleground in the war over the Democratic Party’s direction.www.commonwealmagazine.orgThe Democratic Party needs centrists capable of self-criticism and leftists capable of self-discipline. The current state of the discourse militates against both. @alexwstern.bsky.social: 'The Discourse Party'
The Discourse PartyThe Democratic Party needs centrists capable of self-criticism and leftists capable of self-discipline. The current state of the discourse militates against both.www.commonwealmagazine.org"It is difficult to read 'Effingers' without also reading the Holocaust back into its pages, yet the novel frustrates this response by the sheer abundance of life it evokes." Morten Høi Jensen on the literary miracle that is Gabriele Tergit’s ‘Effingers’:
Distressingly ResonantGabriele Tergit’s 1951 novel 'Effingers' paints a vast and amiably peopled panorama of German-Jewish life at the turn of the twentieth century.www.commonwealmagazine.orgThe United States has made it much easier for the merely rich to become stratospherically wealthy. It’s long past time to reverse course. NEW from the Editors: www.commonwealmagazine.org/tax-rich
Tax the RichThe United States has made it much easier for the merely rich to become stratospherically wealthy. It's long past time to reverse course.www.commonwealmagazine.org"Too often, reasoned debate on what’s broken with our political system and how to fix it is forgone in favor of gatekeeping and overheated squabbles over optics." @alexwstern.bsky.social on the distressing state of Democratic Party discourse:
The Discourse PartyThe Democratic Party needs centrists capable of self-criticism and leftists capable of self-discipline. The current state of the discourse militates against both.www.commonwealmagazine.orgIn the last quarter of the 20th century, provocative art came to be leveraged for right-wing political power. We're still dealing with the consequences. @mathitak.bsky.social on @isaacbutler.bsky.social's 'The Perfect Moment':
The Culture-War FactoryIn the last quarter of the 20th century, provocative art came to be leveraged for right-wing political power. We're still dealing with the consequences.www.commonwealmagazine.orgPope Leo faces profound questions concerning women in the diaconate and in lay ministry. What can we expect? Analysis from Phyllis Zagano:
‘They Don’t Want to Say Yes’Pope Leo faces profound questions concerning women in the diaconate and in lay ministry. What can we expect?www.commonwealmagazine.org"The NEA was on the path to becoming the National Endowment for Nice Art, agency insiders lamented." @mathitak.bsky.social reviews @isaacbutler.bsky.social's new history of the conservative outrage machine: www.commonwealmagazine.org/butler-cultu...
The Culture-War FactoryIn the last quarter of the 20th century, provocative art came to be leveraged for right-wing political power. We're still dealing with the consequences.www.commonwealmagazine.org"Dialogue with Indigenous spiritual traditions will often mean encountering entheogenic plants like peyote, ibogaine, and ayahuasca." Nicholas Collura on psychedelics and the Church:
The Church’s Acid TestMany psychedelic users emerge from their trips with renewed interest in the communal and symbolic life of the world’s religions. Catholic leaders should take their experiences seriously.www.commonwealmagazine.org"A Trappist monastery, it turns out, is a good place to lose your mind." Isaac Slater on aging in the monastery:
A Good Place to Lose Your Mind"In twenty-five years as a caregiver for elderly Trappist monks, I’ve experienced countless times the grace that emerges in vulnerability."www.commonwealmagazine.org"These are the work of a gifted storyteller: yarns with vivid characters, Dickensian plot twists, a gently ironic first-person voice, and hints at deeper truths." @PaulBMoses.bsky.social on a new collection by Jay Neugeboren:
Legends and Long ShotsJay Neugeboren's "Dickensian" childhood eventually led to a prolific writing career.www.commonwealmagazine.org"The show turns out to be not an erotic thriller but an erotic tragedy." Francesco P. Rahe on love, desire, and HBO's 'DTF: St. Louis':
Loved but Not WantedIn depicting a man who throws away a lifetime of platonic love for erotic desire, HBO's 'DTF: St Louis' becomes a paean for the worth of the former.www.commonwealmagazine.orgNicholas Collura: It's time for the Church to start taking psychedelics seriously. www.commonwealmagazine.org/psychedelics...
The Church’s Acid TestMany psychedelic users emerge from their trips with renewed interest in the communal and symbolic life of the world’s religions. Catholic leaders should take their experiences seriously.www.commonwealmagazine.org"The normalization of liturgical traditionalism within Catholicism is a posthumous victory for Benedict XVI." — @massimofaggioli.bsky.social
SSPX and the PopeThe Vatican now views the SSPX as an external schismatic issue. What remains to be seen is how Leo will deal with the issue of internal radical traditionalism.www.commonwealmagazine.orgIf they read him carefully, Christians may find that some of Nietzsche’s religious criticisms are constructive, emphasizing the authentic core of the faith: unconditional love. An essay by Christian Göbel:
Nietzsche’s MonasticismChristians may find some of Nietzsche’s religious criticisms are constructive, emphasizing the authentic core of the faith: unconditional love.www.commonwealmagazine.org"It’s scandalous—and unbelievable—to think that no woman in history ever has or ever will be able to bring Jesus’ Eucharistic presence to the world." Kathryn Muensterman on the Eucharist as source—not just summit—of Christian life:
From Summit to SourceThe Eucharist is not just the summit of our Catholic experience. It is also the source of our conviction to live as Christ did, giving ourselves to others in daily life.www.commonwealmagazine.org“Yesteryear,” this year’s breakout novel, promises insights into the anti-feminist phenomenon, but it doesn’t deliver. The latest from @heidischlumpf.bsky.social:
Why We Love to Hate Tradwives“Yesteryear,” this year’s breakout novel, promises insights into the anti-feminist phenomenon, but it doesn’t deliver.www.commonwealmagazine.org"Since the Trump administration must know that its policies don’t combat hunger, the only conclusion left to draw is that it simply doesn’t like food assistance." @regmunch.bsky.social on the Trump administration's war against the hungry:
Hunger Is a Cry to HeavenNo one should be on the sidelines in the fight against hunger—especially when the GOP's fight against the hungry is being so ruthlessly waged.www.commonwealmagazine.org