La plus ça change

"Primarily responsible, argued La Harpe, were those propagating the doctrines of Diderot, including in one crucial respect Rousseau. For despite the great quarrel that shattered their former friendship, from 1757, the two great thinkers nurtured one particularly subversive political doctrine that Rousseau derived from Diderot, namely that all the ills and crimes of the world arise not from the innate defects of human nature (which both saw as fundamentally good) but from the "radical viciousness" Diderot was the first to see in all existing institutions, systems of government, morality, and society."

--- from Revolutionary Ideas by Jonathan Israel

"The Tennis Court Oath" Jacques Louis David

Why do we not learn more about the French Revolution in school? I learned only a brief outline in sixth grade. The central thesis of the author quoted above is that the Revolution was one of ideas. The radical Enlightenment philosophes conceived of a new society based firstly on the abstract notion of equality and gradually won over what they saw as the ignorant common people of France, who were by and large content and ultraconservative (the prevalent myth of mass disaffection with the monarchy and aristocracy throughout France is squashed around page three). These philosophes formed a sort of gnostic party who believed themselves possessed of knowledge about human nature that the common man could be persuaded to believe but would not come to it independently because they were shackled by ignorance. They set about with what we would call a media blitz - publishing radical literature critical of the Church, the monarchy, the local parlements, the nobility - "all existing institutions." They fermented discontent by convincing the commoners that they were inherently blameless people caught in a web of vicious systems stacked against them.

This would be dangerous to teach in schools in the United States. We would not want anyone thinking that ideas have consequences. We would not want to reunite the abstract realm of philosophical ideas with physical reality - that could get messy. We would not want people to question those who have convinced us that all of our existing institutions are fundamentally rigged against people who are fundamentally good and whose choices must always be approved of. 

This will prove to be an interesting read. 

The See of Baltimore

Last Sunday, I took the train up to Baltimore for the afternoon. My thesis at Catholic University involves developing a design for a museum of American Catholicism. My site is currently in rural St. Mary's City, Maryland, the first place in the Colonies where Catholics were free to settle. It's beautiful, but it is far from DC and is quite remote. It was suggested to me during my final review for the semester that I consider a more urban site, given the largely urban nature of American Catholicism as a whole.

To that end, a visit to Baltimore was in order. Baltimore is the oldest diocese in the United States. Its first bishop, John Carroll, was a cousin to Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the only Catholic signer of the Declaration of Independence. During the 19th Century, Baltimore - like many American cities - swelled with Catholic immigrants from Europe, lending various layers of character to its many unique neighborhoods. In all, I am growing more convinced that an urban site for this museum makes more sense.

Below are a few photos of the magnificent old Cathedral of the Assumption, the first Cathedral in the United States. I thought it interesting that it was built in the Neoclassical style that was so often used for government buildings and Protestant churches. It was quite beautiful.

Monsignor

Since I moved in May, I've been attending St. Thomas the Apostle Parish, which is just a few blocks from my new apartment. Its clergy are Oratorians, a group of professed religious who take a vow to exercise their ministry in a certain specific place. The Washington Oratory, which is St. Thomas, is quite young and is still technically an Oratory-in-formation. In this early stage, the local clergy are being assisted by Monsignor Wadsworth, a British priest of some renown.

Today I almost ran into Monsignor. I had just gotten off the escalator at the Metro. I had just received a text apiece from two friends I had not heard from in many months -- Isn't it funny how that happens sometimes? I was walking on the sidewalk along Connecticut Avenue, clogged with slow-walking tourists most days, but especially this week in anticipation of the Fourth of July. I dodge a stroller, look down at my phone, look up and find myself staring into the eyes of Monsignor Wadsworth, not more than a foot in front of me.

He's a kind man with a gentle demeanor. He gives pointed, but well-considered homilies, with their share of one-liners:

"Not much in our world is imperishable. I think Our Lord asks more of us than a can of tomato soup." (on the imperishability of the soul)

"Our dear Cardinal, a good friend and a lovely man, has not yet realized that the New Evangelization is the same as the old evangelization" (on Cardinal Wuerl)

"The message is the same. God does not change. The message does not change. If you came to church last Sunday, last month, last year, five years ago, ten years ago, fifty years ago, the message is the same. I doubt many of you would've been at mass one hundred years ago -- those people come on Sunday mornings." (on the perennial nature of the Gospel)

"We need to learn the language of heaven. If you go to another country, it helps to learn a language rather than just talking LOUDLY and slowly like we English speakers tend to do. I've been here for six years and I'm still learning the language." (on American English)

"St. Philip [Neri] was often asked what authors to read. He suggested - and I suggest to you - authors whose names begin with the letter S... Saint..." (on what to read)

I managed a "Good evening, Father!" before stepping out of the poor man's way. He was with the parish priest and the novice who recently took his first vows. They were wearing the distinctive cassock and collar of the Oratory. It is always nice to see clergy dressed like clergy while out and about. I saw one priest this weekend in the National Gallery of Art in a cassock.

In the final analysis, a near run-in with Monsignor was not nearly as embarrassing as when I sneezed on the Bishop of Lafayette-in-Indiana.