Mary Kenny
Amy Coney Barrett 
President Trump has said that, following the death of Ruth Bader Ginsberg, he intends to nominate another woman to be a Judge in the American Supreme Court. That’s great!
There are two leading, clever women lawyers who are candidates. In an era when gender balance is upheld as an ideal, you might think that there would be tremendous female and feminist support for these two brilliant Portias – Amy Coney Barrett, aged 48 and Barbara Lagoa, aged 52.
Gender balance
Ah, but, as George Orwell warned in Animal Farm, in the ideology of equality, some are more equal than others! And being a very accomplished woman who is qualified to serve as a top judge doesn’t count for ‘gender balance’ if you are the ‘wrong’ kind of clever and accomplished woman.
Amy Coney Barrett, professor of law at Notre Dame, is a committed Catholic, and a mother of seven – with five biological children and two adopted from Haiti. She has been castigated by Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein just for being a Catholic – “the dogma lives loudly within you, and that is a concern”, said the senator about the law professor’s views on human life.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg had a cult following…especially since she upheld liberal abortion law”
Barbara Lagoa is a Cuban-American and the first Hispanic woman to be a US Circuit Judge. She is married to the lawyer Paul Huck, and the mother of three daughters.
She is also a practising Catholic, who says that her Faith has sustained her through the highs and lows of life.
She is one of President Trump’s personal favourites, which, again, probably means that the feminist movement will not support this particular “gender balance”.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg had a cult following among feminists and progressives, especially since she upheld liberal abortion law. Yet she was good friends with her late colleague Justice Anthony Scalia, who was pro-life. He said she was “a very nice person – except for her views on the law!” A commendable example of respect for the person, even where the values differ.
All the same, it’s worth bearing in mind that a candidate can be of the right gender, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will be favoured by those who demand ‘gender balance’. It’s not enough to be a woman.
You have to be the correct sort of woman.
Boris’ broad Church indeed
It was a surprise to learn that Boris Johnson and his partner Carrie Symonds had their baby son Wilfred baptised at Westminster Cathedral in mid-September. The ceremony was described as “very beautiful” and it was carried out by Fr Daniel Humphreys.
It was known that Boris (who was born in New York) was baptised a Catholic, as his mother’s choice, although he switched to the Church of England at Eton – and to be honest, has never been much of a churchgoer anyway. But it’s something of a revelation that Carrie is a Catholic, and she, apparently chose Westminster Cathedral as the location for the christening.
Will Boris and Carrie now have a Catholic church wedding? Canonically, despite his two previous marriages, they are perfectly entitled to one.
Brutalist architecture doesn’t age well
My Dublin dwelling is just opposite the campus of University College Dublin, and until last week, I never knew that it was set in beautiful parkland, with two lakes embellished by gliding swans, where the public may freely take walks. (And in current conditions, self-isolating in the wide open spaces.)
So I explored it for the first time recently, and certainly, it is a stunning estate, comprising 300 acres in all, planted with so many lush trees, amidst green fields.
Ugly concrete
But the buildings! UCD was moved from Earlsfort Terrace to Belfield in 1964, and the architecture of the university reflects the ‘brutalist’ style of the 1960s, all done in ugly concrete. (The architect was from Warsaw, at a time when Poland’s capital, too, was adorned by the brutalist architectural style, much favoured by Stalin.)
Concrete in buildings wears badly: it becomes dull and tarnished, showing the stains of the weather. Compare, by contrast, the construction of Trinity College Dublin, built in 1592, using organic stone, instead of grim concrete. A handsome building which has survived over 400 years rather better than its competitor has survived 56.
Even the most stalwart defenders of the 1960s concede that it was a terrible era for architecture. So, alas for UCD’s brutalism. Still, the woodland is lovely and the swans enchanting.
