Safe Haven

I'm listening.  For the record, if JP II has a "New Feminism," I'm open to changing my definition. And just so we are clear, I don't define it so starkly because I'm threatened by strong, smart women! Ha! Where is one? I'll marry her. I define it that way because feminism is a zero-sum game, where no one is happy. It proceeds from a false assumption or two actually: 1. That happiness is achievable in this world, with only things that exist here; and 2. Men keep us from achieving it, and we don't need them. There is systematic de-valuation of female personhood, extending to every aspect of human life. It's not an imbalance of power; it's a perversion of ends. Jesus Christ has all power and authority, and what did He do? He willingly died at the hands of his enemies to bring us to the Father. Stew on that for a while.

There comes a moment in the life of every semi-mature Catholic when he realizes that his accounting of sin reveals a horrifying truth: He does not lack knowledge, but love. He sees the choice before him, and quite frankly, holiness doesn't look that good. We pray, "Lord, increase our love, our charity," because there is nothing else we really need. We are not ignorant; we are those for whom apparent goods pull stronger than real ones. Lord, have mercy!

Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds won another Grammy for Best R&B Album for his collaborative concept album with Toni Braxton, "Love, Marriage, And Divorce." It's sad. But it's smooth, man. Toni hasn't lost anything. And with Babyface, you know what you're going to get: clean, chorus-driven pop that has at least as a 41.7 percent chance of being a game-changing song in any one case. I know it was a hipster Grammy, but you can't go wrong with Babyface. I think we're in a sentimental, romantic mood these days, as evidenced by the rise of John Legend, and that's fine by me. In 2008, Usher did a song called, "Here I Stand," a deeply romantic ballad about permanence. They didn't even release it as a single, and it hit the top 20 because of radio airplay. Record labels, take note.

I hate that song by Hozier. It's straight-up pagan. Here are the lyrics . [You like "Locked Out Of Heaven"!--ed.] Probably better said that its appeal is understandable. Anyway, I'm not going to support that. No wonder this song is so popular! [This culture wants sex like Big Macs.--ed.] All the while, not having real sex. Isn't that weird? That's weird, and stupid.