Beginnings...

Like Evelyn Waugh, using Et in Arcadia Ego as a starting point is more than tempting-- considering our common (and antiquated) methods for belief and philosophy.  This should first of all tell you something important about this "blog."  It will hardly be a blog in the ordinary sense... yes there will be convenient amounts of bloviation, though hopefully more substantial.  Yet, the overarching theme of this site will be one focused on the culture; from its many perspectives.  Art, literature, music, conversation, family, government and politics-- it will all be the object of thought and contemplation in a manner that essentially breathes the free Catholic air.

Catholicism in this vein, therefore, is more than just an assumption of certain dogmas.  No, rather it is an understanding and a context.  It is the fundamental placing of a person and his ideas within the world he occupies, and the world he has come from.  Someone once said that to be Catholic meant that one had to have an understanding of history.  Well, here, that same will apply.  But, it will also mean that history is not simply dates and figures, but ideas-- their impact-- and the plight of beauty, truth, and goodness, in a world that sometimes looses sight of them.

I will come to this table offering the insights of someone who has grown-up Catholic and likes to think that he sees the world through such clear eyes.  The world of culture is an ever changing thing, and indeed it is something that permeates (for it ought to) ever segment and moment of our lives... this is object of our forum here. 

Finally, we should always be mindful of the fact that while we use culture and its products for various means-- such as getting an A on that Baroque Art exam, or impressing a beautiful girl with our knowledge of Rosetti's poetry-- it is, and must be approached as, something worthwhile in itself... something good for its own sake.

Welcome to Culture and Catholicism!