Virtus In Medio Stat

nolite iugum ducere cum infidelibus quae enim participatio iustitiae cum iniquitate aut quae societas luci ad tenebras – II Cor 6.14 This is something I have been struggling with for some time. In the height of my traditionalism I had avoided watching all television, stopped wearing jeans and t-shirts, and stopped listening to popular music. When I began to reject some social aspects of traditionalism I started watching television, popular movies and music again. The jeans and t-shirts came back and a lot of the rest. But, I have noticed since then that when I do encounter some of the more worldly and perverse aspects of the popular media and culture, I still have this disturbing response to them. The first obvious response I noticed was when I had watched the film SAW III. I remember I was not a believer when the first film came out. I was not disgusted by the scenes of torturous murder in there. I later figured it out; I was so desensitized from years of violence in popular films....

About a year ago I came across this video by philosopher Roger Scruton. Since then I had recommended it to a professor of the arts at a state university and he now uses it in his classes. I have two of his books on culture and beauty. Check out the video. If you believe art is subjective and it is merely the expression of individuality, check it out! L.G. http://www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2011/12/why-beauty-matters-roger-scruton.html

A few years ago I took some courses as an undergrad relating to the arts, and the various philosophies which dovetailed with the arts. I had at that time wrote a term paper for a different course on how church art had changed in the last few decades, abandoning its former understanding of the role that art played in the practice of religion. Since then thoughts on what role the arts play in the development of the human person have only been theoretical and the subject of passing conversations. Today, however, I was introduced to a movement which seems to be becoming viral, in the online world. It is a group that takes the arts out of the concert halls and brings it to ordinary everyday places, where unsuspecting bystanders will be given a treat to opera, jazz, tango, etc. The first video at Macy's was impressive, but the other ones that I viewed were really moving for me. It was the reactions from the people interviewed. No need for theory and sophistry any longer for me, this is...