2 Comments

1. Paul
   Posted March 25, 2009 at 8:20 am | Permalink

   Was it just me, or did Kmiec not really respond to why he felt justified in voting for Obama over McCain? That would have been nice..

2. Mack Hall
   Posted April 20, 2009 at 10:50 am | Permalink

   I apologize for a too-hasty response; this is my lunch break.

   Robert Bolt is fair and upfront in his introduction to A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS: “…I am not a Catholic…So by what right to I appropriate a Christian saint to my purpose…why do I take as my hero a man who brings about his own death because he can’t put his hand on an old black book and tell an ordinary lie?”

   AMFAS is not history, and doesn’t claim to be so, although many of the lines are indeed taken from William Roper’s biography of his father-in-law. One delights that Bolt, a non-Christian, does such a good job of introducing More to a secular audience. Think of AMFAS as, oh, CARRIE’S WAR instead of THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH-SPEAKING PEOPLES. Shame on Dr. Kmiec for missing (or misusing?) the point of a mostly fictional play.

   I teach AMFAS to my seniors (yes, in public school) and must do much in the way of anticipatory sets / historical background / exposition because they know nothing of the Reformation in England (or anywhere else); they are not taught it even in their various congregations.

   The young people have at least the excuse of being raised in a poor rural area where most attempts at the transmission of civilization begin and end at the schoolhouse door; many of the “churches” (and most attend no church at all) they attend are little more than extended-family prayer meetings based on ignorance and emotions. One marvels that they do as well as they can given their circumstances. Dr. Kmiec can claim no excuse.

   Thank you for your excellent essay. Thomas More, ora pro nos!

   In haste,

   Mack Hall