Wednesday, December 15, 2004

Foucault or Foucauld?

I don't know about you, but the charged atmosphere of our postmodern ethos gets me really excited about Foucault... I mean de Foucauld.

Interestingly, both Michel Foulcault the philosopher and Charles de Foucauld the priest went to extremes in regard to their bodies. The former by exploring the extremes of L.S.D. mixed with sado-masochism in San Francisco, until the extremes of such conditions led to his untimely death; the latter by exploring the extremes of voluntary poverty among poor Muslims in North Africa, until the extremes of such conditions led to his untimely death.

Incidentally, the Pope has suggested de Foucauld as a model for Muslim-Christian dialogue, and it's no wonder why. Something tells me if I devoted my life to living among and suffering alongside their poorest, Muslims would be much more interested in what I had to say as well.