Quotes by and about Orestes Brownson (1803-1874):
“Orestes Augustus Brownson is the Catholic thinker par excellence of the United States. There are no rivals.” R.A. Herrera, Orestes Brownon: Sign of Contradiction, p. xviii.
“Brownson believed he had ben put in a corner, defending his right to be an American against Catholics and his right to be a [...]
New Chesterton books that I hadn’t heard of until last weekend: The Essential Gilbert K. Chesterton Vol. I: Non-Fiction and The Fantastic Fiction of Gilbert Chesterton. The first is merely a commercial re-packaging of three of his books (though it’s kind of an odd combination), the second a commentary by Martin Gardner, who’s a Chestertonian [...]
Look Homeward, America. Bill Kauffman. ISI Books, 2006
Strong, deep, readable, desperate, fun. All those adjectives—even those that trip over one another—fit this book. It’s such a good book, it made me want to quit writing. “If someone like Kauffman, with his erudition and talent, isn’t a household name, what makes me think I [...]
A friend forwarded this latest “end all, be all” of web surfing: allmyfaves.com. It’s a pretty good site. I’ve bookmarked it.
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Ah, crap: Pepsi is now using its TV spots to promote the gay lifestyle. AFA asked Pepsi to remain neutral in the culture war. Pepsi refused. The company said it will continue major financial support [...]
His Influence
Perhaps the most striking aspect of Brownson’s thought is his perceptiveness. Although he concentrated on contemporary American issues, writing what is known as “periodical literature,” the truths and conclusions he pulled from the contemporary scene transcend the era. Perhaps more interestingly, he pointed out looming problems, particularly problems about modern life, decades before others [...]
His Conversion
Although Brownson hadn’t given any serious thought about Catholicism until the 1840s, it would be wrong to suppose that he hadn’t made any progress toward the Church earlier. Throughout his life, little things had nudged him toward Rome.
When he was twelve, for instance, he found himself confused about religion, so he consulted a devout [...]
Orestes Brownson: His Life, His Catholicism
America was not a pretty place to be a Papist in the second quarter of the nineteenth century. Things had previously been fairly peaceful for the Catholics, but in the 1820s Catholic immigrants started to swarm into the States. Irish Catholics swamped the East Coast; German Catholics settled the Mississippi [...]
Opening day 2007. The American League champs will host Toronto at 1:05 (EDT). I’m looking forward to it. I’m hoping tickets are available during the season.
Trailers from low-budget movies in the 1970s. Man, there’s some funny stuff here. Especially recommended: Sugar Hill.
I tend to agree with Orestes Brownson that there is no right [...]
Busy and whacked out with a cold. Congrats to Florida. Though I don’t like the way the BCS voting transpired, I always thought reasonable people could believe that the Gators are the second best team in the nation. Turns out that they’re the best team in the nation.
I don’t have much time for blogging [...]
Patristic popularizer Aquilina has posted his Top 20 books about early Christianity.. Worth a look.
My two cents: The Quasten Patrology series is excellent. I bought it years ago, and it’s an excellent reference source for all things Patristic. I found the Pelikan book hard to read, for a modern book. Newman’s book on Development [...]
1825. Robert Owen, a socialist, announces New Harmony utopian plan in Indiana to government dignitaries in the Hall of the US House of Representatives.
The later Catholic convert, Orestes Brownson, knew Robert Owen and his ilk, even sending his own son to live at one of the rationalist plantations for a short spell. But he saw through [...]
I’m still looking for blogs that revolve around the thought of famous Catholic authors. Thanks to the reader who sent to my attention: The Orestes Brownson page. It’s not really a blog, but it has blog-like characteristics, and any page dedicated to Brownson is a good page.
Earlier post about Brownson’s conversion. It’s excerpted from [...]
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