Secular Cathedrals, Darth Vader and Other Guest Posts

Below are a set of links to a number of guest posts written in the blog of the Australian Catholic news service CathNews. 

The most recent of these touches on the issue of ecclesiastical architecture, with a particular focus on the original cathedral of the diocese of Parramatta vis a vis the new cathedrals of secular culture, skyscrapers, which are becoming more prominent as the city of Parramatta develops into a western satellite of Sydney.

The second begins from a class in scripture given at Campion College on the Book of Revelation, and focuses on what should be the main theme of the book, the victory of the Lamb, as opposed to the popular attention to the the episodes of disaster and violence.

The third, coinciding with the feast of the Triumph of the Cross, looks at how the cross stands as a challenge to consumer culture and its cult of the surface.

The fourth post was written soon after the tragic massacre in Norway perpetrated by Anders Breivik, and suggested how looking at St. Augustine's theme of the libido dominandi - the lust for domination - can give an insight not only into this tragedy specifically, but to our culture more generally. With a reference to the motif of Darth Vader, the post asks the question if we, being infected by sin as much as Breivik, can be justified in our confidence in differentiating ourselves from Breivik, when our daily encounters with others evince the same lust for domination.