Broadening Horizons

Due to my connection to the Blogdom of God and other similar groups, I have access to more conservative blogs than I care to read. There seems to be a high degree of correlation in the orthodox Christian sector of the blogosphere to political conservatism and support for the Republican party in particular. That’s not my bag. That’s not to say I’m hard-core Democrat, either. Call me a Casey Democrat if you must label me. I prefer to call myself "extreme center", or as my new quip says, "stuck in the middle with you" (i.e. most ordinary Americans).

Can any of my readers recommend some good moderate or liberal Christian blogs? I’m part of Unright Christians, but what I’ve encountered thus far seems to be liberal across the board. That’s just as undesirable to me as uniform conservatism. I’m looking for blogs that support traditional, orthodox (heck, call it conservative if you wish) Christianity and moderate or liberal politics (within reason). Think along the lines of St. Francis of Assisi, St. Vincent de Paul, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, or Dorothy Day.

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About Funky Dung

Who is Funky Dung? 29-year-old grad student in Intelligent Systems (A.I.) at the University of Pittsburgh. I consider myself to be politically moderate and independent and somewhere between a traditional and neo-traditional Catholic. I was raised Lutheran, spent a number of years as an agnostic, and joined the Catholic Church at the 2000 Easter Vigil. Why Funky Dung? I haven't been asked this question nearly as many times as you or I might expect. Funky Dung is a reference to an obscure Pink Floyd song. On the album Atom Heart Mother, there is a track called Atom Heart Mother Suite. It's broken up into movements, like a symphony, and one of the movements is called Funky Dung. I picked that nickname a long time ago (while I was still in high school I think), shortly after getting an internet connection for the first time. To me it means "cool/neat/groovy/spiffy stuff/crap/shiznit", as in "That's some cool stuff, dude!" Whence Ales Rarus? I used to enjoy making people guess what this means, but I've decided to relent and make it known to all. Ales Rarus is a Latin play on words. "Avis rarus" means "a rare bird" and carries similar meaning to "an odd fellow". "Ales" is another Latin word for bird that carries connotations of omens, signs of the times, and/or augery. If you want to get technical, both "avis" and "ales" are feminine (requiring "rara", but they can be made masculine in poetry (which tends to breaks lots of rules). I decided I'd rather have a masculine name in Latin. ;) Yeah, I'm a nerd. So what? :-P Wherefore blog? It is my intention to "teach in order to lead others to faith" by being always "on the lookout for occasions of announcing Christ by word, either to unbelievers . . . or to the faithful" through the "use of the communications media". I also act knowing that I "have the right and even at times a duty to manifest to the sacred pastors [my] opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church, and [I] have a right to make [my] opinion known to the other Christian faithful, with due regard to the integrity of faith and morals and reverence toward [my and their] pastors, and with consideration for the common good and the dignity of persons." (adapted from CCC 904-907) Statement of Faith I have been baptized and confirmed in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. I, therefore, renounce Satan; I renounce all his works; I renounce all his allurements. I hold and profess all that is contained in the Apostles' Creed, the Niceno- Constantinopolitan Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. Having been buried with Christ unto death and raised up with him unto a new life, I promise to live no longer for myself or for that world which is the enemy of God but for him who died for me and rose again, serving God, my heavenly Father, faithfully and unto death in the holy Catholic Church. I am obedient to the Magisterium of the Catholic Church. That is, I promote and defend authentic Catholic Teaching and Faith in union with Christ and His Church and in union with the Holy Father, the Bishop of Rome, the Successor of St. Peter. Thanks be unto Thee, O my God, for all Thy infinite goodness, and, especially, for the love Thou hast shown unto me at my Confirmation. I Give Thee thanks that Thou didst then send down Thy Holy Spirit unto my soul with all His gifts and graces. May He take full possession of me for ever. May His divine unction cause my face to shine. May His heavenly wisdom reign in my heart. May His understanding enlighten my darkness. May His counsel guide me. May His knowledge instruct me. May His piety make me fervent. May His divine fear keep me from all evil. Drive from my soul, O Lord, all that may defile it. Give me grace to be Thy faithful soldier, that having fought the good fight of faith, I may be brought to the crown of everlasting life, through the merits of Thy dearly beloved Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. Behind the Curtain: an Interview With Funky Dung (Thursday, March 03, 2005) I try to avoid most memes that make their way 'round the blogosphere (We really do need a better name, don't we?), but some are worth participating in. Take for instance the "interview game" that's the talk o' the 'sphere. I think it's a great way to get to know the people in neighborhood. Who are the people in your neighborhood? In your neighborhod? In your neigh-bor-hoo-ood...*smack* Sorry, Sesame Street flashback. Anyhow, I saw Jeff "Curt Jester" Miller's answers and figured since he's a regular reader of mine he'd be a good interviewer. Without further ado, here are my answers to his questions. 1. Being that your pseudonym Funky Dung was chosen from a Pink Floyd track on Atom Heart Mother, what is you favorite Pink Floyd song and why? Wow. That's a tuffy. It's hard to pick out a single favorite. Pink Floyd isn't really a band known for singles. They mostly did album rock and my appreciation of them is mostly of a gestalt nature. If I had to pick one, though, it'd be "Comfortably Numb". I get chills up my spine every time I hear it and if it's been long enough since the last time, I get midty-eyed. I really don't know why. That's a rather unsatisfying answer for an interview, so here are the lyrics to a Rush song. It's not their best piece of music, but the lyrics describe me pretty well.

New World Man He's a rebel and a runner He's a signal turning green He's a restless young romantic Wants to run the big machine He's got a problem with his poisons But you know he'll find a cure He's cleaning up his systems To keep his nature pure Learning to match the beat of the old world man Learning to catch the heat of the third world man He's got to make his own mistakes And learn to mend the mess he makes He's old enough to know what's right But young enough not to choose it He's noble enough to win the world But weak enough to lose it --- He's a new world man... He's a radio receiver Tuned to factories and farms He's a writer and arranger And a young boy bearing arms He's got a problem with his power With weapons on patrol He's got to walk a fine line And keep his self-control Trying to save the day for the old world man Trying to pave the way for the third world man He's not concerned with yesterday He knows constant change is here today He's noble enough to know what's right But weak enough not to choose it He's wise enough to win the world But fool enough to lose it --- He's a new world man...
2. What do you consider your most important turning point from agnosticism to the Catholic Church. At some point in '99, I started attending RCIA at the Pittsburgh Oratory. I mostly went to ask a lot of obnoxious Protestant questions. Or at least that's what I told myself. I think deep down I wanted desperately to have faith again. At that point I think I'd decided that if any variety of Christianity had the Truth, the Catholic Church did. Protestantism's wholesale rejection of 1500 years of tradition didn't sit well with me, even as a former Lutheran. During class one week, Sister Bernadette Young (who runs the program) passed out thin booklet called "Handbook for Today's Catholic". One paragraph in that book spoke to me and I nearly cried as I read it.
"A person who is seeking deeper insight into reality may sometimes have doubts, even about God himself. Such doubts do not necessarily indicate lack of faith. They may be just the opposite - a sign of growing faith. Faith is alive and dynamic. It seeks, through grace, to penetrate into the very mystery of God. If a particular doctrine of faith no longer 'makes sense' to a person, the person should go right on seeking. To know what a doctrine says is one thing. To gain insight into its meaning through the gift of understanding is something else. When in doubt, 'Seek and you will find.' The person who seeks y reading, discussing, thinking, or praying eventually sees the light. The person who talks to God even when God is 'not there' is alive with faith."
At the end of class I told Sr. Bernadette that I wanted to enter the Church at the next Easter vigil. 3. If you were a tree what kind of, oh sorry about that .. what is the PODest thing you have ever done? I set up WikiIndex, a clearinghouse for reviews of theological books, good, bad, and ugly. It has a long way to go, but it'll be cool when it's finished. :) 4. What is your favorite quote from Venerable John Henry Newman? "Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt." 5. If you could ban one hymn from existence, what would it be? That's a tough one. As a member of the Society for a Moratorium on the Music of Marty Haugen and David Haas, there are obviously a lot of songs that grate on my nerves. If I had to pick one, though, I'd probably pick "Sing of the Lord's Goodness" by Ernie Sands.

26 thoughts on “Broadening Horizons

  1. Jeremy Pierce

    Hugo Schweizer will definitely hold your interest. He’s progressive in his Christianity in some ways, e.g. with respect to homosexuality and inerrantism. He’s conservative on issues like pornography, some gender issues (though absolutely not with some), and abortion. He’s opposed to capital punishment, and I believe he’s a complete pacifist as well. He calls this a consistent life ethic, which I think is a loaded term given that there are consistent pro-life pro-capital punishment views and consistent pro-choice anti-capital pubishment views. Still, I highly recommend him. His thoughts are often insightful. He doesn’t fit into any box. I read too many blogs, so I don’t get around to his site often enough, but I always find something worth reading when I’m there.

  2. Karen Marie Knapp

    Catholic Sensibility
    Catholicism, Holiness, and Spirituality
    Fides, Spes, Caritas
    Sollicitudo Rei Socialis
    On Pilgrimage in Oklahoma City

    don’t have the urls memorized, but they are all in my [alphabetical!] blogroll.

    karen marie

  3. Byron

    Go read my buddy Bob Robinson, at vanguardchurch.blogspot.com. He’s a TEDS grad, conservative in his theology, and a little wacky…uh, oops, I mean, not real conservative politically…

    Actually, I’m more libertarian than Republican myself on a lot of things…

  4. Jeremy Pierce

    I should mention that my co-blogger Wink is a Democrat who voted for Kerry and blogs on my blog about politics now and then. He’s got two recent posts near the top of the blog at the moment. I agree with him almost entirely on both of them, as it happens, but we disagreed a good deal during the election. On matters of theology, we agree on almost everything.

  5. Jeremy Pierce

    If you haven’t looked at Another Man’s Meat, it might be worth a look. Phil is a Democrat in the older tradition. He’s more of a social conservative than most Democrats today, and he voted for Bush, but he often will post about things he wishes the Republicans would pay more attention, and he hopes Democrats will abandon many things he does’t like about what they do nowadays. You may find a number of things you disagree with him on, but I think you’d like the spirit in which he writes on politics, at least much of the time.

  6. dlw

    My friend Steve at Knightopia is pretty orthodox theologically(though he’s involved with the emerging church movement and working for Graham Ministries) and rather moderate politically.

    His blogging output has gone down recently.

    A Pilgrim’s Digression is pretty good. Matt’s a Catholic Convert, somewhat lapsed, but still a wonderful writer.

    Harbinger is Barthian Neo-Orthodox. And Theoblogy tends in that direction and both of them are thought-provoking reads from Princeton Theological Seminry.

    dlw

  7. Funky Dung

    Thanks, Karen. 🙂

    P.S. Are you sure Fides, Spes, Caritas is orthodox? I started reading it after the carnival kerfuffle and what I’ve seen has been pretty dissident. On the other hand, I have to give him credit for being obedient. He doesn’t seem to advocate open rebellion.

  8. Fr Jim Tucker

    There are a number of us who are libertarian or libertarian-leaning in our politics, although I don’t think anyone would call us moderate. Conservative Blog for Peace, Eve Tushnet, and yours truly come quickly to mind.

  9. Douglas

    You might like Deep Calls To Deep in the UK. DCTD is associated with the the Vineyard churches, started by John Wimber, but is definitely on the left side of the aisle on a lot of issues.

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