worldviews


FrDcn Ananias Sorem joins me to discuss the hot topics of late: Thomism, the Thomistic apologetic and the five ways, causality and teleology, epistemology and metaphysical categories, absolute divine simplicity and the uncreated energies and how apophatic theology influences and is related to our apologetic approach as well as their being no neutrality. Father Deacon Ananias has a PhD in philosophy. His channel is here. Live tonight at 7PM EST 


#westerncivilization #philosophy #spengler Modern analyses overlook the deeper philosophical and theological issues that led to the trek the West took.  In this classic take I give my analysis of why the West has fallen which is ultimately theological in nature, relating to the West’s departure from Orthodoxy.

Members of the child-protection team from the UN peacekeeping mission in the Congo, participating in a soccer match. The player’s shirt, translated from French, says “child recruitment is a crime.”
Every time the budget committee of the United Nations meets, as it did in June, child-protection advocates enter a familiar existential crisis: will the United States and China cut UN budgets specifically allocated to specialists on child protection in peacekeeping missions?

The vote by the Human Rights Council on July 12, renewing the role of the UN expert on sexual orientation and gender identity and reflecting more global support to protect LGBTIQ rights than in the past, the author writes. 
I woke to a flurry of messages from LGBTIQ activists across the world, coordinating activities. It was July 12 and the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva was about to vote on renewing the mandate of the independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity — the SOGI expert, as it is called in the UN.

General Balla Keïta, force commander of the UN mission in Central African Republic, right, awarded a medal of honor from the Portuguese contingent, led by Admiral António Silva Ribeiro, April 13, 2019. The author of the essay foresees no exit strategies for UN peacekeeping missions because of national interests of some  permanent members of the Security Council. LEONEL GROTHE/MINUSCA

A demonstration outside the Organization of American States in Washington, April 5, 2016, protesting the murder of the Honduran rights defender Berta Cáceres, who was killed a month earlier. Her daughter, Berta Zúñiga Cáceres, is part of the protests. The author of the essay suggests that instead of women’s rights activists being called on to “push back” against oppression, it’s time for others to “join us”? 

Secretary-General António Guterres, right, greets Mary Robinson, chair of The Elders and a former high commissioner for human rights, before a Security Council meeting on preventing conflict. Ban Ki-moon, a former UN secretary-general and deputy chair of The Elders, is in the center, June 12, 2019. The UN marks the 75th anniversary of the signing of the UN Charter in 2020 with a world leaders conference. LOEY FELIPE/UN PHOTO

A new agreement by the UN and the Central African Republic pledges to tackle rape and other forms of sexual abuse committed in the war there by delivering justice and essential services to the victims. But will the agreement be carried out?, the author asks. 

The property rights of Catherine, a widow, have been threatened with violence in Magu, Tanzania. For widows across the globe, their losses can be uncountable, including their human rights. BEN SMALL/HELPAGE INTERNATIONAL
For many women around the world, the death of a spouse is magnified by many losses — of their social status, marital home, land, property, social security, dignity and, sometimes, their children. But men, on the other hand, lose none of their human rights while usually gaining support in starting a new chapter in his life.

Women from North Darfur performing a traditional dance during a celebration organized by the UN mission there. The author of this essay, an international rights lawyer, argues that Omar al-Bashir, the now-ousted president of Sudan, should be transferred to the International Criminal Court for prosecution of atrocities. ALBERT GONZALEZ FARRAN/UNAMID
The people of Sudan finally ousted President Omar al-Bashir from power, on April 11, 2019.