I image that the people who frequent this corner of the blogosphere have by now all heard the news that Zippy Catholic was killed in an accident about a month ago. Zippy are I were long term intellectual opponents, clashing on the issues of sexuality and the application of the principles of double effect. I know he made a bit of name for himself on the subject of Usury, something I didn't have a particular interest in. I didn't really care much for his debating style nor, do I imagine, did he care much for mine.
One of the things about debating a guy like Zippy is that it forces you to dig deeper into the reasons and logic of your own arguments. In this sense, Zippy's arguments helped me develop a deeper intellectual foundation for my own. I don't imagine it was the effect he intended but it was the effect produced.
I'd like to think that there is still some honor in the world and while we were intellectual opponents I cannot but feel grieved at his loss. Some of his personal details were accidentally revealed in the blogposts of others and I'll admit that I fished around, curious to know the personal details of the man whom I debated with so often. Surprisingly, we had a rather remarkable amount of similarities. It made his loss more personal.
Even more eerily, I too had a health scare over the last few weeks and was fortunate to have "dodged a bullet." Zippy was not that fortunate. You realise just how fragile our grip on this life is. I feel so sorry for his family at this loss.
By all accounts he was a loving father and husband, a successful businessman and a good friend to those who knew him. I will miss him as an opponent.
May he rest in God's eternal peace.
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5 comments:
The only thing I had against Zippy was he was a Mark Shea fan even after Shea went off the deep uncharitable end. That was one angry dude.
Funny that Zippy's info comes out now...he was obsessively private on the blog (I once alluded to a personal facet and he freaked). But I will miss his commentary. It's a good reminder just how quickly we can die and how quickly we are forgotten.
@MK
Our grip on life is indeed tenuous.
Doctor,
I emailed the Jesuit archives that have many documents by John C. Ford to see if he ever expanded on the what the problems with the natural law argument against contraception. Here's hoping the archivists can find something.
@Goldeneye
Thanks. It would be interesting to find out.
@Goldeneye
Janet Smith goes through the history pretty well:
https://www.amazon.com/Humanae-Vitae-Generation-Later-Janet/dp/0813207401
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