Unapologetic by Francis Spufford

The aim of the book is to describe "what Christianity feels like from the inside". The book is entertainingly written and much of what the author describes resonated with me. That said, there were things I liked and things I didn't.

Spufford refers to sin as the HPtFtU 'the human propensity to fuck things up'. This sits much more comfortably with me than the definition we use to prepare children for First Reconciliation "doing things wrong on purpose". I don't like that I do things wrong on purpose but I can look back on my life and clearly see the HPtFtU. His definition of sin comes from an Anglican / Church of England perspective which means as a Catholic I'll be sticking to a definition of sin that makes me less comfortable.

Two things I liked about the book were Spufford's attack on the bus ad pictured below and his attack on the song Imagine by John Lennon (which I've always seen as a call to atheism and a dull one at that). Regarding the bus, he points out that it's the word "enjoy" that sticks in the throat rather than "probably". What about all the people who are unemployed, sick or grieving?

Spufford makes Christianity attractive by emphasising the radical, ridiculous call to love your enemies and love your neighbour as yourself and the transformation that comes about through grace when we try to do this and through the sacraments. He avoids an unchallenging "just be nice" kind of Christianity.

Moving to the things I didn't enjoy, there's a long chapter "Yeshua" which summarises the Gospel. This is entertaining and useful to anyone not familiar with the story, but I skimmed through it. Chapter 7 veers far from Catholic teaching. After explaining the traditional understanding of hell the book states "the majority of us have not believed in it for several years". When it comes to why the church differs from mainstream secular opinion on sex outside of marriage or same-sex marriage Spufford states "the church will reconfigure at snail-like speed, for a new social reality" i.e. the church will get with the programme eventually but it might take some time.

Introducing Moral Theology by William C. Mattison III

I really enjoyed this book, it's comprehensive, practical and easy to read. It answered many of the  questions that I came up against when I studied the Life in the Spirit section of the Catechism such as the relationship between emotions and virtue, the role of conscience in making decisions, and the relationship between freedom and grace.

The book begins by explaining what a morality of happiness is i.e. doing the right thing because it leads to happiness, as oppose to a morality of obligation which means doing things we'd rather not because the world would be a worse place if we didn't all follow certain rules. Catholic moral theology is based on a morality of happiness. In the truly virtuous person there is no difference between what they want to do and the right thing to do.

After a general discussion of moral acts, freedom, virtue and habit  the book looks at each of the cardinal virtues and then the theological virtues. In between these chapters there are four chapters that look at particular moral questions: the role alcohol plays in college life, just war and whether dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima could be considered a good act, sex outside of marriage, and euthanasia. I skimmed quickly through these chapters but I'd recommend them to anyone who is facing a particular issue.

Finally the book includes chapters on sin, Christ, grace and how the seven petitions of the Lord's prayer match the seven virtues. The highlights for me were the chapters on temperance, prudence, charity, Christ and grace. Below are some brief notes on the Cardinal virtues.

Temperance - this chapter breaks down the move from intemperance to temperance into four stages. The first is recognising that you are intemperate (you overeat, under-eat, drink to much, spend too much time playing video game etc), the second is incontinence (you desire to change but you can't), the third is continence (you are able to do the right thing but you still struggle with temptation), the fourth is when indulgence is no longer even tempting. This is where the passions are discussed. While we can't control what emotions arise, the fully temperate person is free from inappropriate passions (they are not fighting their own disordered desires). That is not to say they are without emotion, but their emotions fit the occasion. They might get angry at an injustice but not simply at a perceived slight.

Prudence - prudence is right judgement in action, the ability to see what the right thing to do is and act. It's about being able to see situations as they really are with no self-deception. This is also where conscience comes in. A poorly formed conscience will not even be aware that something isn't prudent.

Justice - "is the habit of acting in a manner that nourishes right relations with others". It applies not just to criminal cases but to families or any group. Justice contributes to well ordered relations.

Fortitude - "is the habit that enables you to face difficulties well". Aquinas divides fortitude into attack and endurance. The book uses the serenity prayer to illustrate the difference, attack is 'the courage to change the things I can' while endurance is 'the serenity to accept the things I cannot change'. Aquinas says that endurance is the hardest part of fortitude e.g patiently putting up with suffering. The person with fortitude still feels fear (the urge to flee) but is able to withstand the fear and act, whereas the coward feels fear and flees.

How children Succeed by Paul Tough

This book looks at the soft skills (character traits) that allow children to succeed outside of basic IQ and why children from poorer backgrounds tend to have poorer outcomes at school. These soft skills seem to vary from early years, to high school, to college.  The book points out that years of educational reform have failed to help poor children, even the reasonably bright ones, out of poverty, though some progress has been made amongst the better-off low income families.

Early in the book Tough looks at stress, showing that children with a high level of stress over a long period (divorce / alcoholic parents / poverty etc) have poor working memory and more health problems. This is caused by the effect on the body of it's own response to stress (increased blood flow, switching to fight or flight mode etc). These responses are meant for short term situations (like being chased by a lion) but when they are switched on over extended periods e.g. a child living in a dangerous area, they have negative affects on health and concentration that continue long after the stressor is removed.

Lab rats that were licked and groomed by a mother rat became strong and healthier than rats that weren't. Similarly children that have mothers who listen to them and respond in a nurturing way (particularly in the first 12 months) tend to become capable and confident. So the antidote to a difficult start in life might be a particularly nurturing mother. Sadly mothers in difficult situation are often just as stressed as the child and may not have the time or inclination to provide this nurturing.

Poor people tend to live in areas with other poor people therefore they have little opportunity to hear well spoken English or see someone go to work everyday. It takes motivation and opportunity over a long period of time to lift even one child out of poverty. Good teachers are important, but even if a child is given access to great teachers over many years, they may not have the support from home or the resources they need to succeed.

Character is as important as IQ when it comes to success and it's important that children believe that both are malleable i.e. you can become smarter and develop character. There are two types of character traits, traditional moral character (good manners, kindness, honesty) and traits that improve exam success like persistence, self-control and curiosity. The character traits for success at school that the book highlights include:

grit,

self-control,

zest,

social intelligence,

gratitude,

optimism,

curiosity.

Children can be taught strategies for improving character. In the classic experiment where children are given a marshmallow and told they can eat it or wait 15 mins and get two, the children who simply looked at the marshmallow quickly gave in and ate it. The children who were able to resist used strategies such as turning their back on the marshmallow, pretending it was made of something unpleasant, keeping themselves busy by counting or singing, one boy even curled up and went to sleep.

Children from affluent backgrounds can struggle at college because they have distant mothers who have provided tutors etc but not 'licking and grooming', but also from not being allowed to fail and then try again. Affluent children often lack the motivation to work hard because their families provides a safety net against failure. Children need the motivation to succeed but also the will-power (volition) to be able to do more than just dream of success. Will power involves setting rules and goals and then sticking to them e.g. "I will get an 'A' this year by studying for an extra hour every day".

Using a chess coach as an example, Tough suggests that as children reach adolescence they need less 'licking and grooming' and more feedback. They need to be able to talk about where they went wrong and try again. Children that give up when they are criticised don't learn and improve.

As children leave high school and enter college skills such as resilience, ambition, professionalism and integrity are needed. At this stage, children from poor backgrounds have usually had a low quality education compared to affluent children, but if they can scrap into college they have a chance of catching up by the end of the first year, this is because many of the affluent children coast and enjoy the social life for the first year.

Tough concludes that addressing poverty should probably begin with better paediatric care and parenting courses for infants, followed by soft skills training for pre-schoolers and school age children and college readiness courses beginning 3 or 4 years before college. While schools and teachers play an important role in the success of children, so do families and home life.

After Asceticism by The Linacre Institute

This book looks at the issue of child sex abuse in the Catholic Church in the US. It starts with an analysis of the problem, showing that abuse peaked in the 1960s and 1970s (with first offences usually occurring ten years after ordination) and that most offences were incidents of pederasty (boys in puberty and adolescence).

The book blames a rise in hedonistic/pagan culture (sexualisation) in the 60s and 70s coupled with a fall in the ascetic practices of priests and religious which might otherwise have given them some defence against temptation. Added to this was the trust parents placed in the integrity of priests. Around the same time there was a general increase in theological dissent and changes to liturgical practices that left many priests unhappy and confused about their role. This increase in discontent amongst priests was one reason many of them left the priesthood. It also contributed to a huge drop in vocations (priests and religious no longer encouraged young people to follow a vocation they were dissatisfied with themselves) which in turn left the remaining priests overworked and stressed.

The report blames a reliance by the bishops on therapeutic psychology rather than time tested spiritual practices for the failure to bring the problem under control sooner. By treating priests as ordinary men their problems were seen as personality issues caused by repression and immature sexual development (celibacy was blamed). The prayer life and fasting of the priest, the cultivation of virtue and self-control, which had for centuries been recognised as essential to maintaining celibacy, was given no consideration by the psychologists.

The report estimates that 30% of priests were and still are homosexual (much higher than in the general population). It suggests that sexual problems have moved from the illegal to the immoral. So while sexual abuse of children has been tackled, the problem of priests not keeping their vows remains. Liberal thinking, even amongst some bishops, suggests that a priest can be indulge in sex outside of marriage but still do a good job as a priest. The report argues that the hypocrisy of the priest, his being open to blackmail, and general lack of holiness greatly reduce his effectiveness.

The report rejects the idea that the church recruited seminarians with personality issues who were likely to go on to abuse children, or that the ascetic practices at seminaries bred abusers. It points out that most first offences occurred ten years after ordination. Instead the report suggests that priests who had become active homosexuals in parishes, ended up teaching in seminaries giving them a ready supply of impressionable young seminarians to either seduce or abuse.

"the sexual corruption that entered into seminary training in the 1960′s and ’70′s did not come before the increase in sexual permissiveness that had taken hold of segments of ordained clergy, but rather resulted from men, already ordained as priests, bringing their attitude and lifestyle recently acquired back into the seminaries as teachers during a period of significant confusion in the Church. This sexual licentiousness among segments of the ordained clergy occurred concurrently with a rising crisis of confidence among all clergy…The atmosphere of disciplinary and doctrinal defiance common to the time [60's & 70's] would have encouraged confusion among the rank and file priests, and in the deviant, the sexual behaviour afoot; these conditions remain in many places today but they do not manifest themselves in the form of sexual abuse of minors"

The report looks at whether a person is born gay or whether it is socially conditioned.  It suggests that if a child's first sexual encounter is same-sex or they are in an environment that encourages same-sex relationships, they are more likely to become homosexual. So there is an element of nature and nurture.

Focus by Daniel Goleman

After a promising start this book proved disappointing. Goleman emphasises the need for each of us to consider ourselves, others, and the systems we live in, when making choices. After a certain IQ point (a little above the average) people who are self aware, empathetic, and can easily understand the big picture (how an organisation operates) are more likely to succeed than simply the best intellects.

If we go through life in a state of busyness (multitasking, skim reading, looking at our phones etc) we are unlikely to see the people around us or be in tune with ourselves. Goleman's two solution are brain training exercises (a chance to talk about brain plasticity) and mindfulness. People who meditate quickly become more self aware and more other focused.

Goleman gives a good deal of time to climate change and the importance of the common good in making business decisions. Here he rehashes what has been said about our tendancy to deal with problems that are immediate and to ignore the long term. He condemns politicians who care only about being reelected and not the mess that is being left for future generations.

Most of the case studies Goleman uses come from his immediate family or work colleagues which suggests he's either name dropping or the book involved very little research.