The Galli Report: 10.02.20
Amy Coney Barrett's feminism, cheers for hierarchy, spiritual red herring, crazy news and zany politics.
Amy Coney Barrett Is Messing with Our Stereotypes
Some try to paint her as a ultra-conservative, but then there is this piece in Politico--hard to mistake it for a conservative rag—that argues she’s “A New Feminist Icon.” And yet a surprising kind of feminist:
In recounting how she decided to go through with their second adoption, Barrett said: “What greater thing can you do than raise children? That’s where you have your greatest impact on the world.” And when a justice of the Supreme Court showcases this truth by her very life, this long-abandoned insight can finally begin to reemerge across our culture.
When greater numbers of us understand the cultural priority of caregiving, a movement will grow strong enough to challenge the dominant market mentality that disfavors family obligation for both women and men. Ginsburg’s brand of feminism will give way to something new, a society in which we will no longer fight over abortion because it will have become irrelevant.
I doubt many readers of The Galli Report are anxious about her religious background (something that deeply worries Senator Diane Feinstein, who said to her in a previous confirmation hearing, “The dogma lives loudly within you”). But in case you want to know more about The People of Praise with whom she has been associated, you can read it here from my friend Ed Stetzer.
Two Cheers for Hierarchy!
One reason many non-religious are suspicious of Catholics and conservative evangelicals is because we respect authority—that is, we believe in hierarchies. What outsiders fail to grasp is that one can believe that pastors, priests, bishops, popes, parents, men, elders—whomever—have certain spheres of authority but that doesn’t make them better than others. Nor does it mean they are to be slavishly obeyed, let alone obeyed in all matters all the time.
Still, believers usually champion egalitarianism in the political sphere. But there may be a case for hierarchy even there. “Can Hierarchies Be Rescued” thinks about this along political lines, suggesting that egalitarianism may not be the only way to create a healthy society.
Westerners have long believed that their political success derives, in part, from their individualistic and egalitarian values. Yet recently, China’s growing political and economic clout — and its increasing assertiveness on the global stage — has challenged the familiar story of American exceptionalism. Might China’s meritocratic system, and its implicit commitments to hierarchy, be the secret of its extraordinary success?
Aiming Right
An article in Those Catholic Men”—"Do You Want a Better Version of You… or Do You Want God?”—sounds like a chapter from my latest book (okay, a cheap plug—but I am weak and like seeing when someone agrees with me).
The spiritual life is sometimes spoken of as the seeking after perfection. If this be understood to mean that the man aiming at spirituality is to set before him his own perfection as an object after which he is to strive, it is apt to lead to serious mistakes in the spiritual struggle. It is true that the development of a full spiritual life involves in its attainment man’s perfection; yet it is not precisely at this perfection that he must aim, but at God. God is the final end of man and therefore the object after which he must strain in all his spiritual and moral endeavors.
The President, COVID 19, and the Endless News Cycle
I learned about Mr. Trump’s testing positive for COVID-19 just as I was getting ready to publish this edition. I was tempted to include an article or two about it, but I’m sure there will be thousands in the next few days speculating about what this could mean for the country.
If you haven’t noticed, most news commentary is speculating about what might happen—with most guesses proving wrong. What’s left is commenting on what has happened, with most pundits singing the same tune as their colleagues on the left or the right. And the more dramatic the news, the more pundits there are who talk about it. For example, the day after the recent presidential debate, nearly every article in The Week online was about that event. As if there was nothing else in the world worth talking about.
As a former journalist, I get why this happens. You’d be considered out of touch if you didn’t comment on what everybody’s talking about—besides missing out on the page views your publisher needs. But I wonder if we need a few more journalists who are “out of touch” because they are covering disasters, human right abuses, oppression, and injustice—and yes, even some good news--taking place in other parts of the globe, events in which the lives of human beings are deeply affected, lives hardly anyone knows about it.
In fact, spending a lot of time reading about and wondering about what this or that event portends for the future is a spiritual danger, filling us with anxiety or hope about, well, nothing real. In this case, I’ll avoid reading what this latest breaking news might mean and instead pray for healing for Mr. Trump and his wife, who also tested positive.
Coolest Political Ad Ever
I don’t know what the politicians featured in this video stand for, but if I lived in Texas, I’d be mighty temped to vote for them based on this ad, which is a great deal more fun than most political ads these days. (HT to Chip W!).
Grace and peace,
Mark Galli