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The Three Whisky Happy Hour: The Last Pope, the Next Speaker, and Hobbes

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Only the 3WHH bartenders could possibly draw the connecting thread between the subjects of the passing of Pope Benedict XVI, the drama over the next Speaker of the House, and Thomas Hobbes. But with the help of a little fine whisky, we're up to the job!

Steve and Lucretia give the Protestant John Yoo a tutorial (the first of two this episode) on why Benedict may have been the most serious theologian ever to serve as Pope. It might be summarized in two words—"Regensberg Address"—but there is much more to that story, including the lingering mystery of why Benedict abdicated the papacy ten years ago.

From there our spirits—both the distilled and mental kind—kicked in hard for our discussion of the intramural Republican struggle to elect a new Speaker of the House. Let's just say Lucretia would prefer Charlie McCarthy to Kevin McCarthy and leave it at that.

This episode ends with Steve and Lucretia giving John his second tutorial, this time on Thomas Hobbes. John has recklessly agreed to a "great books" segment on Hobbes for Prager University, but as usual provokes significant disagreement among the 3WHH bartenders.

And because of this last segment, our exit music is "Am I Very Wrong?" (answer: when it comes to Hobbes—Yes!), by musical combo whose name shall not be mentioned here:

Am I very wrongTo hide behind the glare of an open minded stareAm I very wrongTo wander in the fear of a never ending lieAm I very wrongTo try to close my ears to the sound they play so loudAm I very wrongThe happiness machine is trying hard to sing my song

Host:
Steve Hayward
Guests:
JYJohn Yoo"Lucretia"

Discussion (29)

  • Saint Augustine@SaintAugustine

    I don't believe the Catholic church actually opposes the death penalty. Maybe some official statements say something against it, but I'd be very surprised if anything officially considered infallible says anything like that.

    In fact, I'd be a little surprised if nothing officially considered infallible did not actually affirm the death penalty.

    Knowles is fond of quoting major Catholic sources in favor of the death penalty. I bet I could find a nice Aquinas citation myself at NewAdvent.org pretty quickly.

  • Steven Hayward@StevenHayward
    ReplyingtoSaint Augustine

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):

    I don’t believe the Catholic church actually opposes the death penalty. Maybe some official statements say something against it, but I’d be very surprised if anything officially considered infallible says anything like that.

    In fact, I’d be a little surprised if nothing officially considered infallible did not actually affirm the death penalty.

    Knowles is fond of quoting major Catholic sources in favor of the death penalty. I bet I could find a nice Aquinas citation myself at NewAdvent.org pretty quickly.

    There is the whole "seamless garment" argument against the death penalty among many prominent (liberal) Catholics, but I don't recall right now whether JPII ever lended his approval to this. Pretty sure Francis has though.

  • Saint Augustine@SaintAugustine
    ReplyingtoSteven Hayward

    Saint Augustine (View Comment):

    I don’t believe the Catholic church actually opposes the death penalty. Maybe some official statements say something against it, but I’d be very surprised if anything officially considered infallible says anything like that.

    In fact, I’d be a little surprised if nothing officially considered infallible did not actually affirm the death penalty.

    Knowles is fond of quoting major Catholic sources in favor of the death penalty. I bet I could find a nice Aquinas citation myself at NewAdvent.org pretty quickly.

    Steven Hayward (View Comment):

    There is the whole “seamless garment” argument against the death penalty among many prominent (liberal) Catholics, but I don’t recall right now whether JPII ever lended his approval to this. Pretty sure Francis has though.

    What is this argument?

    Now I do remember something about Augustine against the Donatists and the seamless garment. It'll even turn up in my next book. But that's different.

  • Noell Colin the gadfly@Apeirokalia

    It comes with a heavy heart due to my general liking of Mr Yoo, coupled with my suspicions that he is wrong due to his squishiness on natural right/s/law, that I must make the observation:

    When Steve mentioned the Regensburg address: "One of the problems with Islam is that they have abandoned reason" and how it outraged radical islamists. I found it funny that John Yoo sounded very interested in reading and exploring it. Almost as if it was a divine excuse from the Pope for for Yoo's involvement with the "Memorandum Regarding Military Interrogation of Alien Unlawful Combatants Held Outside The United States".

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