Problematic ...

... McGahern's Church. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

The faithful may assent to the doctrine that the Church is divinely instituted, but one would to a fool of world-class proportions would fail to notice that it is staffed - and must be - by all-too-human beings, often with grievous consequences. Most people do not reject government because politicians are often corrupt. We accept it in spite of that, as the faithful accept the Church and its doctrines in spite of the flaws of its ministers and adherents. McGahern's affection for the beauties of the Church is fine as far as it goes. But one would think that someone as smart as he would have realized that the beauty derives in no small part from the content it aims to express.

Dave also sends along What the Late Middle Ages Wrought.