Monastic Musings

Monday, July 20, 2009

Norm Pellegrini - WFMT's founding vision - R.I.P.

I heard a few days ago that Norm Pellegrini had died. I probably heard his voice as often as that of my own parents when I was growing up: ours was a WFMT household, and he was the primary announcer in those years. WFMT, in the 1950s and 1960s, made sure that its listeners understood the nuances of the music, its place in history, the performers - in short, we became a well-educated audience, like it or not. Norm Pellegrini's knowledge of classical music was self-taught. With the likes of Studs Terkel, who died last year at the age of 96, Norm Pellegrini created a pillar of culture that endured for decades at WFTM radio.

One commentator called Norm Pellegrini The Last of the Great Oaks, and that is probably accurate. As the founding generation gradually faded into retirement, the station was melded with public television. The quirky genius of those visionaries became a set of regular programs. The quality is still good - far above many stations - but the unique personality is not there.

Norm Pellegrini hosted The Midnight Special show, probably my first exposure to folk music - and to the kind of dry academic wit that is hard to find in broadcast media. Not many children grow up hearing things like Severn Darden's Metaphysics Lecture, or laughing at sketches like "Football Comes to the University of Chicago" (the over-academic students just don't get the sport; when the coach tries to explain that some players are called "ends" he is interrupted by a student athlete who asks where the beginnings are for those ends, because Aristotle says all ends must have beginnings). He was the first to introduce me to Pete Seeger, whose version of Malvina Reynold's song "Little Boxes" (see below) was something of a counter-culture anthem in my friendship circle. His willingness to play songs that were just plain funny - whimsical - weird - like the Ladies of the Harem of the Court of King Caractacus (see below) was, perhaps, my first model of an adult who could be serious and professional - and also wacky and fun.

Norm Pellegrini always ended the Midnight Special with "You've Got to Walk That Lonesome Valley" - but I suspect that, when he crossed to the other side of that valley, Studs and his long-time buddy Ray Nordstrand and dozens of others were waiting to greet him.

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Sunday, July 19, 2009

Every Family Matters - British Report

A British think tank, The Centre for Social Justice, issued a lengthy report, Every Family Matters along with a 20-age Executive Summary that presents recommendations for family law reform grounded in an in-depth analysis of the current status of family life in Britain. It's a hard-hitting report, growing out of concern that arose from Breakdown Britain, an earlier study of families. Ian Duncan Smith, MP, spoke:

"In these reports we presented evidence of dysfunctionality and fatherlessness across a range of incomes and social backgrounds, but most acutely in our poorest communities. This family breakdown fuels Britain’s social breakdown - breakdown which destabilises society and is becoming more entrenched every day."

After detailing facts on the rise of single-parent families, both because of divorce and non-marital childbearing, the report considers the impact of cohabitation on family life. They baldly state that "it has long been assumed that cohabitation and marriage are separated only by a signature on a piece of paper." The report counters that assumption with a barrage of evidence that cohabiting relationships break up much more often than married couples, and that cohabiting couples are more likely to break up after the birth of a child while married couples become less likely to break up after the birth of a child.

They were surprised that recent polling evidence showed that 84% of people polled thought it was important for law to support marriage, and 60% thought the LAW should promote marriage in preference to other kinds of family structures such as cohabitation. Collaboration between Labour and Conservative MP's is grounded in this finding that there is support among members of both parties for legislation to strengthen family life.

The recommendations of the report include some that will surely not arouse any controversy - for effective and early community support for families, and for a growth in accredited marriage preparation opportunities. Others would represent a major change to family law that, while not returning to the old fault-oriented divorce procedures, would nonetheless introduce steps into the divorce procedure with an eye toward healing and saving marriages where possible:

We recommend binding pre-nuptial agreements as part of an overhaul of divorce financial provision.
The family legal system should introduce mandatory referral to information before the commencement of court proceedings, and in due course, a mandatory attempt at resolution in children matters before proceedings.
Where a married couple initiates divorce proceedings, we recommend a three month period of reflection and consideration at the outset.
We reiterate calls for the government to value the uniqueness of marriage in the tax and benefits system.

Rather than focusing on the recommendation of greater social services, the unique feature of this report is its emphasis on the legal structure of marriage. The last reform of marriage laws responded to traditionally-oriented laws of the 1950s and 1960s that had negative consequences - most especially in the fault-and-blame orientation of divorce and property provisions that seemed to lock people into hopeless and sometimes abusive marriages. The combination of legal change to a more "no-fault" oriented system amplified cultural changes that have had a negative impact on the structure of family life, according to the report.

People are usually quick to want legislation to match whatever the current social trends are - as when, in the upsurge of the 1970s women's movement, existing divorce laws were found to be antiquated and were replaced with those that seemed to match the times. We are less quick to recognize the unintended consequences of past legal changes, and least open to changing legal structures to shift, rather than support, current practice. The Centre for Social Justice's report, though, certainly makes a strong argument for just that approach, in the face the crumbling fabric of family life in Britain.

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Thursday, July 16, 2009

The Rule of Law - a Western Phenomenon?

Listening to Judge Sotomayor answer the questions of members of the Senate Judiciary Committee reminded me of the tremendous benefit of living in a nation where the rule of law is very strong. Both the questioners and Judge Sotomayor assumed that laws should be passed for the common good, criminal and civil cases be solidly grounded in the evidence, and the laws applied in a just and fair way. Even the most heated exchanges accepted this foundation; what disagreement existed revolved around the method of achieving fairness.

It is not so everywhere. A group at the World Bank developed measures of governance, one of which was the strength of Rule of Law within a country, defined as "the extent to which agents have confidence in and abide by the rules of society, including the quality of contract enforcement and property rights, the police, and the courts, as well as the likelihood of crime and violence."

Even among the developed nations of Europe, the Rule of Law is not evenly distributed. It is noticeable that the Rule of Law is weakest among many of the poorest nations, as described in Paul Collier's The Bottom Billion,but the Rule of Law is only moderately present throughout much of the world. We hear stories of tourists jailed for years for seemingly small (or non-existent) offenses, or the unconscionable treatment of political dissidents, ethnic minorities, or other groups, and shudder. We wonder how such corrupt and dysfunctional systems continue to exist.

The numerical evidence - and that of history - provides a different perspective. The strong Rule of Law is a major achievement in a nation. It can exist only to the extent that most members of society abide by the laws, support the punishment of those who do not, and public disclosure of proceedings so that oversight is possible. While we bemoan swindlers like Bernie Madoff, or episodes of police brutality and corrupt officials, the very act of having publicity about investigations and convictions reinforces the Rule of Law.

Judge Sotomayor's confirmation hearings dominated much of the news for a week. Even those people who did not follow the questions and answers closely were nonetheless affected. They knew that the appointment was based on qualifications - even if senators disagreed about which were most important - and not on payoffs or influence peddling. The attention paid to the process gave, in itself, a boost to the Rule of Law.

As we hear about other nations struggling with pockets of lawlessness or generalized corruption, it is worthwhile to recognize the blessings we take for granted from this adherence to the Rule of Law, and the fragility of the process. It does not take a large number of people to threaten it, but it cannot be overturned unless the majority fail to come to its defense.

The next time the Governance Matters group at the World Bank posts its map, let's hope that more nations have moved into a stronger Rule of Law - and that the processes in the U.S. have stayed strong.

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Our Lady of Fontenay

Our Lady of Fontenay, originally uploaded by jimforest.

Don't the warmth and playfulness of this statue grab your heart? Jim Forest visited Fontenay Abbey, founded by St. Bernard himself - one of the oldest Cistercian abbeys in the world. While monasteries may have several images of Our Lady, there is often one that is special to the place - hence the title, Our Lady of Fontenay.

So often, the Virgin Mary is shown gazing at her Son with a somber adoration; I'm sure she did contemplate the fullness of the Mystery. But she is also a mother, and Jesus lived as a fully human child. I am sure that the Mystery included not only the Father's grand plan but those moments, common in any family, when mother and child simply gaze on each other with delight - and smile.

How wonderful to have that moment captured nearly 1000 years ago, and sent our way. Thanks for sharing, Jim!

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Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Abp Chaput on the Media

It's not uncommon for public figures to speak - even to complain - about the news media. Few have been as analytical as Archbishop Chaput of Denver. Even more unusual is the even-handed way in which his critique hits journalists and consumers of the news alike.

Last week, speaking to a meeting of the Legatus Group in Colorado Springs, he focused on the relationship between Catholics and the "Fourth Estate" - but his words are worthwhile for anyone to consider - especially anyone who would like to influence the press.

How "the media" work

He began with the reality that real human beings are behind every news stories: "These people select and frame the news. And when we read their newspaper articles or tune in their TV shows, we engage them in a kind of intellectual intimacy in the same way you’re listening to me right now."

There is an important difference however. When people listen to him - or, he said, to George Will or Paul Krugman - they have a good idea of the opinions and biases of the author. They may listen because they agree or because they want to know what the other side thinks. Either way, they can gauge the choices and strategies that went into creating the stories.

We have a harder time with the rest of the news. Archbishop Chaput did not claim that most stories are tainted or biased - merely that choices are made. Should a story be long and filled with details, or short? Place on the front page or buried in the middle? Which sources should be quoted and emphasized?

"Like it or not, most of us define the “news” by what receives the most attention from a handful of major media. When we learn key phrases or statistics about issues of public importance, it’s through their repetition in those same news media," he said.

While most journalists "try to be diligent and fair," not all succeed. And some "don't even try." How are we to respond to this situation?

Our responsibility

Archbishop Chaput was direct: "When we don’t recognize the personal chemistry of the men and women who bring us our news ... then we fail the media by holding them to too low a standard. We also ... fail ourselves by neglecting to think and act as intelligent citizens."

Strong words! How do we fail, and why? Archbishop Chaput presented an extended analysis of the difference between our modern TV/radio/internet news - often prepared in a short period of time and broadcast in short blips of sound bites- and the news media of the past. "They thrive on brevity, speed, change, urgency, variety and feelings."

Print media, and the print culture that goes with it, develops habits of mental and intellectual discipline, a culture which is fading away.

Contrasting the requirements of a modern democracy with the eye-grabbing tactics of high-tech media, Archbishop Chaput said: "Thinking requires the opposite. Thinking takes time. It needs silence and the methodical skills of logic. Today’s advances in technology have increased the sources of human information that the average layperson can access. That’s a good thing. But they’ve also undermined the intellectual discipline that we once had when our main tools of communication were books or print publications. This is not a good development. In fact, it’s a very dangerous thing in a democracy, which is a form of government that demands intellectual and moral maturity from its citizens to survive."

Beyond the need for intellectual discipline to develop a full view of the news, Archbishop Chaput stated that journalists also need a "right spirit" that justifies the Constitution's protection of free speech - along with religion - in the First Amendment. According to President Thomas Jefferson, the purpose of freedom of the press is "the reason and truth needed for self-government." When Jefferson wrote, the majority of Americans had a strong belief in natural law; that has eroded today. This is especially true among journalists.

"Here’s my point," said Archbishop Chaput. "The news media, despite their claims of impartiality, and despite the good work they often do accomplish, are just as prone to prejudice, ignorance, bad craftsmanship and tribalism as any other profession. But unlike other professions, the press has constitutional protections. It also has real power in shaping how we think, what we think about and what we like, dislike and ignore. "

Well, you might be thinking - along with the business leaders at the Legatus meeting - what does he expect us to do about the press?

First, he said, "What we can do is refuse to be stupid ... to be sandbagged by our news establishment." Listing a number of views often heard from pundits, not about facts but about what "will" happen or what issues are "settled" - although still widely debated - he called on his listeners to "render to Caeser what is Caesar's, and to God, the things that are God's." The press, he says, cannot help with that task because it doesn't know - often does not want to know - the difference.

Rather than passively receiving the news and living by it, he said, "Our moral witness needs to be formed ... by learning and living an authentic Catholic faith." This path leads to the ability to take positions founded on our own values, not those that have shaped and styled the news we receive.

The result?

If we refuse to be stupid, if we take the time to educate ourselves not only on the issues of the day, but on the philosophy and teachings that allow us to understand them, we can develop a position that is in line with the deepest beliefs of our faith. Then, according to Archbishop Chaput, "we’ll be the kind of citizens who can appreciate the genuine service our news media provide to society. We’ll also be the kind of citizens who demand that our news media act with the sobriety, integrity, fairness and honesty their vocation requires."

(Legatus is an networking organization of Catholics in the business world, portrayed by a few as a cult or powerful cabal, a view promoted by a smear campaign against Keith Fimian, candidate for a congressional seat in Virginia in the 2008 election.)

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Thursday, July 9, 2009

College of St. Scholastica - history

Well, our college has pulled together some interesting materials from their archives, along with the monastery archives, showing the history of Tower Hall, our first building. I suspect the upcoming 100th anniversary of the College of St. Scholastica has something to do with it...