Friday, December 19, 2014

louie, louie: or nothing at all

louie, louie: or nothing at all: People who know nothing of God and whose lives are centered on themselves, imagine that they can only find themselves by asserting their ...

Friday, December 12, 2014

The Amazing and Miraculous Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe (full length)

Pope Calls Angry Blogger

Pope Calls Angry Blogger

Why Am I So Harsh on the Incestuous Relationship between Catholics and “Conservatism”?

Why Am I So Harsh on the Incestuous Relationship between Catholics and “Conservatism”?

Number 3 Equity Court: Lerner Emails Show Obama Justice Department Involv...

Number 3 Equity Court: Lerner Emails Show Obama Justice Department Involv...: Full story here.

Number 3 Equity Court: Senate Report May Cause International Criminal Cou...

Number 3 Equity Court: Senate Report May Cause International Criminal Cou...: Full commentary here.

Traditionalists and the Council

Traditionalists and the Council

Friendship for Husbands and Wives

Friendship for Husbands and Wives

Sunday, November 30, 2014

louie, louie: be converted

louie, louie: be converted: This is the mission entrusted to the church,      a hard mission: to uproot sins from history, to uproot sins from the political order, to u...

louie, louie: Merton's typewriter

louie, louie: Merton's typewriter: One of Merton's typewriters, now at the Merton Study Center, Bellarmine University, Louisville. I know, this blog has been dorm...

louie, louie: Francis visit to Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque

louie, louie: Francis visit to Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque: Francis repeated Benedict XVI’s gesture today: A moment of silence before the niche that points in the direction of Mecca. “God must no...

louie, louie: Advent: when the ladder climbing stops we are read...

louie, louie: Advent: when the ladder climbing stops we are read...: http://visualtheology.blogspot.com/2014/11/advent-when-ladder-climbing-stops-we.html?showComment=1417352473713 This is how Advent alway...

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Anglicans Ablaze: Human Rights Campaign: A formidable force for LGBT...

Anglicans Ablaze: Human Rights Campaign: A formidable force for LGBT...: The Human Rights Campaign brings a notable track record of helping change public opinion on homosexuality. Now it has set its sights on p...

Anglicans Ablaze: Muslims Found America?

Anglicans Ablaze: Muslims Found America?: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Saturday that the Americas were discovered by Muslims in the 12th century, nearly three centur...

Anglicans Ablaze: Pentecostalism and the Question of Culture

Anglicans Ablaze: Pentecostalism and the Question of Culture: In a recent article for Christianity Today , Ed Stetzer offers some sociological analysis as to why Pentecostals continue to experience g...

Anglicans Ablaze: How Muslims Are Likely to View Friday's Washington...

Anglicans Ablaze: How Muslims Are Likely to View Friday's Washington...: By Robin G. Jordan The International Business Times and the Christian Post have published articles on this past Friday’s jumu’ah ...

Requiescat in Pace: Tom Magliozzi

Requiescat in Pace: Tom Magliozzi

Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: 'Flag of Palestine' graphic going viral

Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: 'Flag of Palestine' graphic going viral

Fr. John Whiteford's News, Comments, & Reflections: Payday Someday

Fr. John Whiteford's News, Comments, & Reflections: Payday Someday: When I was about 12 or 13 years old, while listening to the radio, I heard one of the most striking sermons I ever heard. Despite having ...

Change urged by Pope Francis shakes Roman Catholic hierarchy | Nation & World | The Seattle Times

Change urged by Pope Francis shakes Roman Catholic hierarchy | Nation & World | The Seattle Times

Shouts at 1st Muslim prayer at National Cathedral | Nation & World | The Seattle Times

Shouts at 1st Muslim prayer at National Cathedral | Nation & World | The Seattle Times

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

SANCTE PATER: Overnight With Father Benedict Groeschel

SANCTE PATER: Overnight With Father Benedict Groeschel

SANCTE PATER: Cardinal Burke says statement from Pope Francis de...

SANCTE PATER: Cardinal Burke says statement from Pope Francis de...: By Patrick B. Craine ( LifeSiteNews.com ) In a candid interview Monday, Cardinal Raymond Burke voiced the concerns of many of his bro...

Bizarre Days At the Vatican

Bizarre Days At the Vatican

What In the World Is Going On In The Church?

Frighting Post from Father Alan McDonald at Southern Orders.

ISIS and the mystery of the jihadi brides | RedState

ISIS and the mystery of the jihadi brides | RedState

The Eclectic Reader: Winnie and Wolf

The Eclectic Reader: Winnie and Wolf: I enjoyed A.N. Wilson's 2007 novel Winnie and Wolf a great deal.  If you like this book you probably have two characteristics: (1) Y...

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Anglicans Ablaze: What the Muslim world believes, on everything from...

Anglicans Ablaze: What the Muslim world believes, on everything from...: A sweeping, 226-page report from the Pew Forum explores attitudes and opinions from Muslim communities around the world. In the process,...

Anglicans Ablaze: Updated: ISIS ensnares women, girls in web of lies...

Anglicans Ablaze: Updated: ISIS ensnares women, girls in web of lies...: Pregnant Austrian teens in ISIS: We’ve made a huge mistake Two Austrian teens got way more than they bargained for when they abandoned ...

Anglicans Ablaze: Pope Francis signals blessing to breakaway traditi...

Anglicans Ablaze: Pope Francis signals blessing to breakaway traditi...: Pope Francis has signalled his blessing to the breakaway traditionalist American church at the centre of the split which has divided the ...

Abbey Roads: Why young people are leaving the Church ... or - w...

Abbey Roads: Why young people are leaving the Church ... or - w...: This is the church, this is its steeple, open the doors, and -  hey! where the hell are all the young people? What's the Church...

Guglielmo Tell (Teatro alla Scala, 1987)


This production of Rossini's opera William Tell was performed in Milan in 1987 with the La Scala Orchestra conducted by Riccardo Muti.  The lead role was sung by Giorgio Zancanaro.

I'm not crazy about "modern" or "post-modern" staging of opera.  This wasn't too bad, though.  The opera is set in thirteenth century Switzerland but this staging has the characters wearing costumes from the early 19th century.  There were three giant screens hung over the stage which displayed mountains or water or whatever the scene was.  The giant screens weren't too bad, but I never figured out what the giant choir stall stuck in the middle of the stage was supposed to be about.

The music was superb and the singing and acting were great.  It would have been much better, though, with a traditional staging with something approximating period costumes.

Of course, this opera is about the famous legend of the Swiss hero William Tell who was forced by the Austrian conquerors of Switzerland to shoot an apple off of his son's head who then leads the revolt of the Swiss against the Austrians.  All around it's a good show.

Abbey Roads: Remember when Obama said: “Now let’s make two thin...

Abbey Roads: Remember when Obama said: “Now let’s make two thin...: British lawyer and Imam, Anjem Choudary said Obama is wrong. Choudary * said that Obama may simply be saying that to appease ...

Friday, October 10, 2014

Louisville, KY Human Rights Commission Says Christians Must Leave Religion At Home

The Louisville, KY Human Rights Commission has ruled against a Christian T-Shirt Shop for refusing to print Gay Rights T-Shirts.  The owners have been ordered to attend "diversity training" to unlearn them of their backward religious beliefs.  The Chairman of the Commission stated that Christian business owners must "leave their religion at home" or be in violation of the law.  Welcome Comrades to the United Soviet Socialist States of Amerika.   Full story here.

Governor Mike Huckabee Threatens to Leave GOP Over Gay Marriage

Former Arkansas Governor and Presidential Candidate Mike Huckabee has threatened to leave the Republican Party if it does not fight Gay Marriage.  Full story here.

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Evelyn Waugh on 1984

Evelyn Waugh on 1984

Five Myths About the “Rapture” and the “Left Behind” Industry | Catholic World Report - Global Church news and views

Five Myths About the “Rapture” and the “Left Behind” Industry | Catholic World Report - Global Church news and views

Only Bureaucratic Neglect Could Make Ebola A Problem For The US | RedState

Only Bureaucratic Neglect Could Make Ebola A Problem For The US | RedState

Sin, Homosexuality, and Fascism | RedState

Sin, Homosexuality, and Fascism | RedState

Is Pope Francis Purging the Curia of Conservatives

Thanks to Father Alan McDonald at Southern Orders

Abbey Roads: Mashuga!

Abbey Roads: Mashuga!: New Sign at Harvard Divinity School H/T Nan

Abbey Roads: Rabbi Yehuda Levin on homosexual unions: "What's ...

Abbey Roads: Rabbi Yehuda Levin on homosexual unions: "What's ...: A Jewish rabbi more Catholic than (some of) the Synod fathers? Maybe so. Rabbi Yehuda Levin, 60, a Brooklyn rabbi with a weekly ...

Abbey Roads: If I could turn back time...

Abbey Roads: If I could turn back time...: What happened?

Fr. Benedict Groeschel dies on the vigil of the Feast of St. Francis

Fr. Benedict Groeschel dies on the vigil of the Feast of St. Francis

Fr Groeschel: Home for the Feast of St Francis

Fr Groeschel: Home for the Feast of St Francis

The Ugliness of Mortal Sin

The Ugliness of Mortal Sin

Abbey Roads: +Fr. Benedict Joseph Groeschel+ Santo subito!

Abbey Roads: +Fr. Benedict Joseph Groeschel+ Santo subito!: + We give you thanks for the blessings which you bestowed upon Fr. Benedict Joseph  in this life: they are signs to us of your goo...

Father Benedict Groeschel

This post concerns the death of Father Benedict J. Groeschel, a spiritual guide and mentor for many people.  

Monday, September 22, 2014

Cambodian Buddhist Monks Smoke Meth in Temple

Dolan is Charged to Model Christ, Not the Pharisees

Dolan is Charged to Model Christ, Not the Pharisees

The Kraken Unleashed: Are We Ready to Fight the Beast?

The Kraken Unleashed: Are We Ready to Fight the Beast?

PopeWatch: Bernardin II

PopeWatch: Bernardin II

Anglicans Ablaze: The War of the Cross

Anglicans Ablaze: The War of the Cross: When ISIS changed its name in June from “the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant” (ISIL, or the Arabic acronym ISIS) to simply “the Isla...

Anglicans Ablaze: Rise of Islamic schools causes alarm in secular Tu...

Anglicans Ablaze: Rise of Islamic schools causes alarm in secular Tu...: When Turkish pupils received their school entry exam results after the end of last term, textile worker and father Halil Ibrahim Beyhan r...

Moderate Appointed Archbishop of Chicago

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Saturday, August 16, 2014

Aggie Catholics: 100 Ways To Pray

Aggie Catholics: 100 Ways To Pray: This post is a collection of different kinds of prayer, ways to pray, devotions, sacramentals, etc.  It is by no means an exhaustive list...

Salve Regina!

The Digital Hairshirt: Hey, Assumption, y'all! A Scriptural primer on to...

The Digital Hairshirt: Hey, Assumption, y'all! A Scriptural primer on to...: I sometimes get the feeling that I am a bit of a curiosity here in the South.  Living as I do in the heart of the Bible Belt, there are more...

Happy Catholic*: What Can We Do in These Terrible Times?

Happy Catholic*: What Can We Do in These Terrible Times?: These are chaotic, sad times in the world and I am encountering a lot of people who are beat down by it. I myself would be beat down by it...

Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: Guess what the most serious problem in the Arab world is?

Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: Guess what the most serious problem in the Arab world is?

Abbey Roads: Prayer to St. Roch

Abbey Roads: Prayer to St. Roch: O blessed Saint Roch, patron of the sick, have pity on those who lie upon a bed of suffering. Your power was so great when you were in...

Abbey Roads: St. Rocco, patron saint of hitchhikers...

Abbey Roads: St. Rocco, patron saint of hitchhikers...: The practice of showing a little leg to get a ride was actually introduced by St. Roch.  What?

Abbey Roads: Pope Francis in Korea

Abbey Roads: Pope Francis in Korea: I watched the beatification Mass last night. It was beautiful - the Koreans are so devout, so enthusiastic... and the Holy Father is ...

Permissible Genocide?


The Episcopalians Do It

Interesting post from Father McDonald at Southern Orders.

THE B-MOVIE CATECHISM: NOW SHOWING AT A BLOG NEAR YOU

THE B-MOVIE CATECHISM: NOW SHOWING AT A BLOG NEAR YOU: My review for Aleteia this week was for Calvary , John Michael McDonagh’s new film detailing what happens after a good priest receives rece...

Saint Louis Catholic: Hmmm, I Wonder What Could Have Possibly Happened t...

Saint Louis Catholic: Hmmm, I Wonder What Could Have Possibly Happened t...: Ferguson. It's on everybody's mind in St. Louis. Elsewhere, too, maybe, but it's different when these things happen in neighborh...

Number 3 Equity Court: Alabama Federal Judge Arrested for Family Violence...

Number 3 Equity Court: Alabama Federal Judge Arrested for Family Violence...: An Alabama U.S. District Judge has been arrested in Atlanta for battery on his wife.   Full story here.

Chinese Catholics Barred From Traveling To See The Pope

Chinese Communist officials have prevented Chinese pilgrims from traveling to South Korea to see the Pope.  Full story here.

Friday, August 15, 2014

Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary



Today the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Mother of God.  In the east this feast is called the Dormition of the Theotokos.

From Blessings of the Daily: A Monastic Book of Days by Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette:

"This feast is considered, especially in the East, the most prominent of all the feasts celebrated in honor of the Mother of God. It is also one of the most ancient.  In the Christian East, the feast is kept with great solemnity and is preceded by a two-week fast as preparation.

Some Christians, not of the Orthodox or Catholic tradition, have a difficult time trying to comprehend the mystery we are about to celebrate.  After all, there is no testimony in the Scriptures concerning the death and Assumption of the Mother of God into heaven. Our belief is founded on sacred tradition, the belief of the ancient, undivided Church. . . . Saint Juvenal, bishop of Jerusalem around the time of the Council of Chalcedon, relates the tradition as it was believed by the Christians of Jerusalem:  Mary died in the presence of all the Apostles (except Thomas), but when her tomb was opened at the request of Saint Thomas, it was found empty; where from the Apostles concluded that her body had been taken up to heaven."

Saturday, July 12, 2014

Salon Mag Calls Hobby Lobby Decision The Start of a 'Religious Civil War.'

Salon Mag Calls Hobby Lobby Decision The Start of a 'Religious Civil War.'

Pope Francis “Doesn’t Want to Convert Evangelicals”?

Pope Francis “Doesn’t Want to Convert Evangelicals”?

On Church Architecture: Preaching Hall or Temple?

On Church Architecture: Preaching Hall or Temple?

Creative Minority Report: California Bans Use of 'Husband' and 'Wife'

Creative Minority Report: California Bans Use of 'Husband' and 'Wife'

Creative Minority Report: The Hermeneutic Of Cont...Oh I Give Up

Creative Minority Report: The Hermeneutic Of Cont...Oh I Give Up

Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: Turkish singer tweets 'May God bless Hitler,' yearns for Muslims to 'bring the end of those Jews' (plus administrivia)

Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: Turkish singer tweets 'May God bless Hitler,' yearns for Muslims to 'bring the end of those Jews' (plus administrivia)

Language Restrictions Will Ultimately Decide The Immigration Debate | RedState

Language Restrictions Will Ultimately Decide The Immigration Debate | RedState

Professor: Religious Schools Should Lose Accreditation for Being Religious.

The Devil and Pope Francis

The Devil and Pope Francis

Recreational Contraception

What we're really talking about in the Hobby Lobby case:  Recreational Sex.  Full article here.


Australian Judge Says Incest is OK

A Judge in Australia has said that incest should now be OK since any birth defects can be "fixed" by abortion!  Read the full story here.

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Episcopalian Blogger Converts to Catholicism

The author of prominent conservative Episcopalian blog has come home to the Catholic Church.  Thanks Be To God!

Stand Firm | Waypoints

Monday, June 2, 2014

God Less America

Veterans Administration Chaplains who are fired for quoting the Bible and invoking the name of Jesus in prayer.  A second grader sent home and referred to psychological counseling for drawing a picture of Christ on the cross.   Christian business people ordered by Courts to bake cakes and take pictures for Gay weddings and fined thousands of dollars because of their belief that homosexuality is a sin.  Church choirs banned from performing in public because they refused to remove Christian hymns from their repertoire. Employees fired for eating a Chick-Fil-A sandwich because a gay co-worker was offended.  These are just a few of the true stories of persecution against Christians which are detailed in Fox News Commentator Todd Starnes book God Less America: Real Stories From the Front Lines of the Attack on Traditional Values.


Every orthodox believer must be prepared to be persecuted.  It probably won’t be long before even holding the opinion that homosexuality is a sin will be a crime which can be punished with job loss and even fines and imprisonment.  Priests and Pastors may go to jail for teaching the Church’s traditional positions on faith and morals.
 


I enjoyed reading God Less America, but it’s about 100 pages too long.  The book is full of filler which consists of Starnes homespun “Hee-Haw” esque ramblings about being a Southern Baptist from Mississippi and drinking sweet tea and eating home made potato salad at dinner on the grounds.   


The jokes and sarcasm also detract from the very serious issues which the book deals with.  A little of Starnes Kornfield Kounty Southern Baptist jokes are OK, but it gets old after you read over 200 pages and more than half of it is cornpone humor.  Oh, well, what did I expect from a book on current events that I bought from the Baptist Bookstore?  (Oh, I forgot they’re not “Baptist Bookstores” any more they’re “Lifeway Christian Stores.”  Glad we straightened that out. 

The Old Baptist Bookstore

The New Baptist Bookstore

 Anyway, God Less America is well worth a look, and you will get a few chuckles in and between being angry and horrified about what has happened to our country.     

Saturday, May 24, 2014

The Bad Catholic's Movie and TV Blog: BANDOLERO! (1968)

The Bad Catholic's Movie and TV Blog: BANDOLERO! (1968): 1968's Bandolero! is star studded shoot em up in the tradition of the Hollywood "B" grade Western. The Bishop Gang, led b...

Talking About Hell is "Hate Speech"

News from the country that used to be England.  A Baptist Church put up a sign which implied that atheists would go to hell.  Based upon one complaint, the Church was investigated by the police who ruled that the poster was "hate speech" and threatened criminal prosecution against the pastor.  Jesus talked about hell more than any other biblical figure.  It probably won't be long before possession of a copy of the Gospels or reading them out loud will be deemed "hate speech."  Full story here.

In Macon, Georgia: Catholic School Stays Catholic

A preview of things to come: a parent who sends a child to a Catholic School thinks that the teachings of the Catholic Church are "archaic" and "wrong."  This is all about an openly gay teacher whose contract is not being renewed because his lifestyle violates the teachings of the Catholic faith.  Full story here.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Russian Orthodox Church Wary of Closer Ties to Rome

Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: The Simpsons Jewish Imperialist Conspiracy reaches even deeper!

Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: The Simpsons Jewish Imperialist Conspiracy reaches even deeper!

Five Implications for Churches as the Boomers Retire

Five Implications for Churches as the Boomers Retire

Catholic Answers Conference, September 4-6, San Diego

Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: Muslims freaking over proposed law to allow Jews to pray on Temple Mount

Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News: Muslims freaking over proposed law to allow Jews to pray on Temple Mount

How This Supreme Court Justice Kept His Kids Catholic

How This Supreme Court Justice Kept His Kids Catholic

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: The Last Abbot of Westminster Goes to the Tower

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: The Last Abbot of Westminster Goes to the Tower: In 1560, John Feckenham, the last Abbot of Westminster, was sent to the Tower of London on May 20th by Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Cante...

Triablogue: The Islamification of the SBC

Triablogue: The Islamification of the SBC: Paige Patterson has ignited a firestorm by admitting a Muslim to SWBTS. One issue is whether he has the authority to do so. Does this viol...

Glenn Beck Gives "Mormon Sermon" at Evangelical College Commencement

Baptist Seminary Admits Muslim Student

Thursday, April 17, 2014

What Passover In Jerusalem was like 2000 years ago.

Maundy Thursday

Almighty Father, whose dear Son, on the night before He suffered, did institute the Sacrament of His Body and Blood: Mercifully grant that we may thankfully receive the same in remembrance of Him who is these holy mysteries giveth us a pledge of life eternal, the same Thy son Jesus Christ our Lord; who now liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Spirit ever, one God, world without end. Amen.

(Source 1979 BCP p. 169).

Have Gun, Will Travel: Connecticut Gun Laws, "Slaves," and Tyranny...

Have Gun, Will Travel: Connecticut Gun Laws, "Slaves," and Tyranny...

Monday, April 14, 2014

PaleoJudaica.com: St. Catherine's Monastery threatened?

PaleoJudaica.com: St. Catherine's Monastery threatened?: BARBARIC: Retired army general wants Egypt's St. Catherine's Monastery demolished. Ahmed Ragai Attiya says that the historic UNES...

Anglicans Ablaze: Evangelicals admit struggling to find time for dai...

Anglicans Ablaze: Evangelicals admit struggling to find time for dai...: New research has shed light on the difficulties evangelicals have in making time for their spiritual life. In particular, the Evangelic...

Girls are being forced to convert to Islam in Pakistan, but because they are Christian nobody cares | Christian News on Christian Today

Girls are being forced to convert to Islam in Pakistan, but because they are Christian nobody cares | Christian News on Christian Today

Number 3 Equity Court: Federal Judge Rules Ohio Must Recognize Out of Sta...

Number 3 Equity Court: Federal Judge Rules Ohio Must Recognize Out of Sta...: Full story here.

Monday in Holy Week


Almighty God, whose most dear Son went not up to joy but first He suffered pain, and entered not into glory before He was crucified.  Mercifully grant that we, walking in the way of the cross, may find it none other than the way of life and peace; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

(Source: 1979 BCP p. 168).

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Comrade Press Secretary?

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney has Communist Propaganda Posters in his house ? (!) Thanks to Red State.com

Little Catholic Bubble: Sheen: Meditation on TEMPERANCE

Little Catholic Bubble: Sheen: Meditation on TEMPERANCE: Background and Part I, here . Part II, here . Part III, here . Part IV, here . Continuing with Lenten meditations on the   Seven Last ...

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: Palm Sunday in England before the Reformation

Supremacy and Survival: The English Reformation: Palm Sunday in England before the Reformation: The Catholic Church in England before the Reformation used some adaptations of the Latin or Roman Rite called the Sarum Use. These adapta...

Caiaphas Apologizes For Christ

This is great! Sad but great! Caiaphas Apologizes For Christ

The Magisterium of Sophomores: another High School explosion

The Magisterium of Sophomores: another High School explosion

Palm Sunday at the Vatican

Gay Nuptials in the Church of England | An Exercise in the Fundamentals of Orthodoxy

Gay Nuptials in the Church of England | An Exercise in the Fundamentals of Orthodoxy

Understanding the Heresy of Calivinism

Great article from Mark Shea.  Thanks to Southern Orders.

The Digital Hairshirt: " But look out because the devil is present!"

The Digital Hairshirt: " But look out because the devil is present!": What does our Pope say? “We are all tempted because the law of our spiritual life, our Christian life, is a struggle,  a struggle,” said P...

Number 3 Equity Court: From the Anglo-Saxons to the ABA

Number 3 Equity Court: From the Anglo-Saxons to the ABA: I did it.  And it was quite an accomplishment, if I do say so myself.  I read all 1144 pages of Professors Langbein, Lerner and Smith’s ...

Saturday, January 25, 2014

A Hard Boiled Thought for the Day: The Wisdom of the East?

"He found her, Moira Langtry, that is, in church.

It was one of those screwball outfits which seem to flourish on the West Coast.  The head clown was a yogi or a swami or something of the kind.  While his audience listened as though hypnotized, he droned on and on of the Supreme Wisdom of the East, never once explaining why the world's highest incidence of disease, death, and illiteracy endured at the fount of said wisdom"

From The Grifters (1963) by Jim Thompson