Safe Haven

 It sure seems like Caitlin Clark enjoys playing for her coach (White) and the others on the Fever. There are “family” vibes around all of them. I see the superstars supporting the role players, and vice versa. Stephanie White is now 55-28 overall, since taking over going into the 2025 season. They were 1 (!) win from the WNBA Finals, without Clark and 5 other key players. Understand what this means: Caitlin Clark is a cross between Michael Jordan, and John Stockton. She’s shooting only about 25 percent from 3 point range. If she shot it at 40 percent, she’d score 40 points a game, AND lead the league in assists. Like it or not, she’s the face of the league, even when she isn’t playing particularly well. Some of the fanboys and fangirls need to relax. She can’t play every minute, even if she wanted to. She’s an elite scorer, but she doesn’t have to be. She’s surrounded by players who can score. That’s why she’s the assist leader! Kelsey Mitchell is a top 5 scorer in the league, and...

 My head is swimming with a lot today. I started the commentary on St. Mark’s Gospel today. It’s also my sister Alyse’s (June 11, 1989-April 5, 2023) birthday. It’s the first day of the FIFA World Cup. I’ve got my all-time Spotify playlist playing as I compose this. Taylor Swift’s “betty” is playing right now. I hope she had fun at the Knicks game last night. I’m rooting for the Spurs, but credit to the Knicks for that epic comeback. Did I speak profanity whilst observing ESPN’s GameCast on my phone? Yes. There are no lies on the blog; I speak Swear better than I would like. I had Roger Federer on my mind, because I love him, at least as much as I can love a stranger whose odd sporting skill and character I appreciate. Back in 2015, ESPN created a title screen/highlight package with a dance-pop song called “Something New” by the duo Axwell + Ingrosso. Every time I hear it, I think of Roger, doing Roger things. It made my Spotify playlist, too. I’ll still never be able to express to...

 The reverse statement is of course pithy Calvinism, and it’s pithy nonsense. Maybe going soft on human sexuality is just easier; you can consign anyone you don’t like to Hell anyway. You can’t really appeal to an unavoidable moral law, irrespective of religion, or any flavor of virtue ethics, in this scenario. The erstwhile interlocutors love it, because they can consign any position they don’t like as coming from religion, properly speaking, and appeal to liberty or something similar. The progressives are still Puritans, sans Jesus. The problem was never religion; it’s fanaticism untempered by Divine Love or truth.

 Now, Steven Deacon Greydanus is going backwards, from mistreating people he disagrees with politically, to publishing pro-homosexuality propaganda. Then again, everything is political now. It’s not enough to disapprove of Donald Trump’s personal conduct; we apparently have to disapprove of Supreme Court decisions that left-wingers don’t like. More to the point, the alleged mistreatment of sexual minorities is either fabricated, or exaggerated. We don’t have to join in various celebrations just to affirm our commitment to nonviolence and basic human respect, because well-adjusted people can respect others without necessarily agreeing with them. Maladjusted people need endless affirmation, because the voice of conscience is so loud. It’s funny that so many worry about what “conservatives” will do with government power, but they don’t seem like they are as afraid of words, debate, and disagreement. Hmmm. Coercion is the last refuge of cowards. Speaking of cowards, that’s what I call ...

 The people with the tough, hard exterior are just scared. Scared to love, and scared to be loved. I can see right through them. Kids are like this, too. Growing into adolescence, you can’t show fear, or vulnerability, or need. Especially boys. The only trouble is, if you do enough bad things pretending to be hard, you become that. If you don’t break out of that, you’ll hurt yourself and others—maybe badly—and wonder how it all went so wrong. I taught a kid like this once. He probably should have graduated the other day. We’ll call him “Matt.” I should say, I attempted to teach him. No fooling, he tormented me. When you’re young, testing boundaries is part of the deal. But in strong families, with luck, you get to test your own boundaries while you grow up. If not, they test them on the green and profoundly disabled teacher. This sad story wasn’t my fault, objectively. I know that. But I still think about that kid. I question everything I said and did. On the other hand, the next t...

 I’m up way too late tonight, because I started adding pop culture stuff to my Facebook profile. Among my ten favorite films are two starring this man: Hook (1991) and What Dreams May Come (1998). I didn’t even add Dead Poets Society (1989) or his Oscar-winning performance in Good Will Hunting (1997) and I don’t much like the two leads who wrote the script: Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. Robin kept that movie from being youthful self-congratulatory nonsense. Will sucks, and Affleck’s character is pointless. If I didn’t resonate with the trauma and the love story, I might have hated it. Robin has absolutely iconic films that I haven’t seen. But anyone who thinks he’s just a comedic actor isn’t paying attention. Dude is one of the best actors, period. And he gave us himself without playing himself. It’s cliche and mainstream to love him, and his death saw an outpouring of emotion that felt weird, even for an admirer like me. But really, he was deeply human in the best way. I hope the Ju...

 My opposition to voluntary pregnancy termination (commonly known as abortion) goes like this: All human beings—irrespective of their ability or inability to defend themselves—have an inviolable dignity. It is morally unacceptable to murder a living human being. (Indeed, it’s reprehensible to desecrate the body of a human being who has died.) Murder is the unjust taking of a human life. Voluntary pregnancy termination is the taking of a human life at an early stage of development. Murder is always wrong. Some argue that a living human being is only a person when they are older, such as when they can speak and think. One argument mistakenly claims that an embryo or fetus cannot feel pain, and thus, it is claimed that killing them would be morally acceptable. But to accept this would violate the first premise. Taking the life of a human being at any early stage of development, such as the zygotic or embryonic stage, is particularly unacceptable because they are defenseless. Aggressio...

 I can actually imagine the kind of person who worries that that America’s putative conservative political party will usher in some crazy religious nutters. The avowed Christians around Donald Trump are not like your Grandma. I might have said they haven’t had a normal day since Halloween, 1985, but they probably don’t celebrate Halloween. We can imagine those people; they are depicted on TV a lot, fairly and not. I saw a clip of the stand-up comedian Danny Jolles talking about “bros” the other day. [Bros? Oh. Like, not the guys who call everything “sportsball” to seem cool to their wussy academic friends. Gotcha.—ed.] He said a funny thing, insulting maybe, meant for that “wussy” audience: “Bros are like the dogs of people.” Loudly announcing themselves, potentially annoying, but really just want to make friends. After mentioning that genuinely evil, dangerous bros exist, he noted that a “good bro” refers to Roe v. Wade approvingly. And maybe Danny Jolles is the kind of liberal co...

 The infamous Juror #3 was played by Lee J. Cobb, and of course his intransigence was driven by his distance from his son. He saw his son in the defendant. He got called a sadist by Henry Fonda’s Juror #8, and he did a fair amount of yelling. But in the end, I’m pretty sympathetic. The real bigot is Juror #10. He goes on a big rant, and gets shunned by all the others. Ed Begley. He had to be a heck of an actor. The anger ranges from subtle to explosive. I think the lesson is that anyone can seem normal when they aren’t pressed.

 The basis for all the case law that we think of as “human rights” is natural law, and revealed Christianity.  [Sarcasm on] It’s cool on the worldwide Left to think of “human rights” as pertaining to sexuality, as long as it’s abnormal, or involving the intentional killing of preborn people in the womb. Wars are always bad, especially when engaged in by the United States. Actually, wars started in response to the “evil” hegemony of the United States are good, obviously. [Sarcasm off] Somewhat inconveniently, the only time sexual minorities are actually erased are in countries that happen to be enemies of the United States. Forgive me, but I think the idea of Christians being the problem is patently absurd. Domestic politics is absurd, silly, and even destructive. But you know, we can ignore people who say crazy things. Then again, doing politics might involve hearing things that sound crazy, but are actually not. Doesn’t it seem clear that people stay in bubbles where they nev...

 I had some pretty rough days as a child. Most people don’t know. Whenever I could, I would escape to my room and watch PBS. Because in St. Louis where I grew up, Channel 9 comes in the best, even today. It’s a moral intuition that told me Fred Rogers was safe. Don’t bother me about his views on homosexuality; by the time I get to Heaven, the Lord has already talked it over with him. [Did you just baldly assert that Fred Rogers is in Heaven?—ed.] Yep. Feeling pretty safe about that one. But if he needs my prayers to make it all the way Home, he’s got them. Pete’s sake, I feel like he’s a friend of my Dad, at the very least. He’s been dead 23 years, and he still seems present. I know I’m not the only one. I’ll elaborate my conflicted views about public television and radio later. Suffice it to say that I really don’t know if I would be here, without Mr. Rogers.

 There’s a pretty woman who gives sex advice for a company called “Yoxly.” I’ve seen the reels on Facebook. I have no need for sex advice, but you know, good-looking women are good for marketing. I’ve noticed one weird thing: the worst-case scenario in all these reels is pregnancy. The worst thing next to that is unprotected sex. Or, as normal people call it, “sex.” I know objectively that not everyone is Catholic. I also know that a Catholic life is a difficult life, at least with willpower alone. I also know that the purveyors of the zeitgeist are absolute freaks. Seriously, what is wrong with you people?

 I admittedly aim a lot of my fire at these wishy-washy liberal evangelicals, because they seem to assert that all Trump opposition has to be basically progressive. Maybe rightism was forced down their throats. Or maybe they’re just dumb. I’m never going to say abortion is acceptable. I’m never going to support euthanasia. I’m never going to say that a family is whatever you want it to be. Let me be blunter about it: I don’t think homosexuality is good, or even neutral. People are going to do what they do, and I don’t believe in government power to force people to do things. But I also think the “pro-gay” consensus is fraudulent. It’s a witches brew of stupidity and sentimentality. At best. While we’re at it, the reason to support one man-one woman marriage is that children result from those people having sex. I suppose that’s kind of obvious, but you can’t take anything for granted, given the influence of gender ideology. Young people are so steeped in it that they can’t even prac...

 I was snarkily thinking it was cute to see who liberal Democrats think is a unifying figure who could win the presidency. But then I thought, “Well, the Right isn’t having a normal one, either” and that we don’t really talk across that divide. We talk about each other, but not to each other. I’m glad Stephen Colbert’s show is ending. I like him, or at least I think I would, but he hasn’t been funny for years. And he’s one of those people who reinforces arrogant left-wing attitudes and perspectives. He’s the Pauline Kael of the century; he doesn’t have any friends who voted for Trump, and he won’t know anyone who voted for the next guy. I could have said “person,” but I don’t think we’ll see a female GOP nominee for some time. It seems like Rubio is in a good position to unite the Right, but he’s the child of immigrants. Will the nativist wing allow him to be kinda liberal on immigration? On the other hand, a lot of Trumpism is pretending to care about things—enough to enrage the L...

 I’m in a wheelchair with spastic hands, arms, and legs, so I wouldn’t touch a Host or a chalice unless I was compelled to do so. Along with the Magisterium, I place no special burden upon people to do it my way. I will say that if the Host ever did touch my hand, I would lick my hand, to make sure nothing of Jesus ended up on the ground or some other unworthy place. I don’t abide “traditionalist” nonsense that only clerics should touch the sacred species because only their hands are consecrated. By baptism, all the faithful are consecrated and made worthy by Jesus to be there. He could destroy us all, but he wants us there. The priest is consecrated in a unique and permanent way to make the Eucharistic Sacrifice, but the whole liturgy is sacrifice and communion. If extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion remain bothersome, it is because not enough people avoid Communion for reason of grave sin/mortal sin. But that’s a much bigger problem than the “traditionalist” desire to presu...

 It’s the film Argo, about the rescue of the hostages taken by the Iranian cult regime. Several CIA agents did great work, and it’s awfully hard not to swell with pride at hearing from President Carter in the ending credits.    I never went along with the legend that the Iranians were terrified of Reagan, so they released the diplomats. They weren’t afraid of Reagan when they sent the PLO terrorists to Beirut to kill Dr. Malcolm Kerr in 1984. Obviously, if you’re gonna lose, you want to have a post-presidency like that one. Also, how do we know he wasn’t just unlucky in the macroeconomic sense? George H.W. Bush got similarly unlucky in the fall of 1992. And the Right was divided by a nativist populist that year. I seriously hate it when that happens. I hate it even more when a dumber, cruder version of the guy wins two non-consecutive terms. I digress.

 A 7-year-old was kidnapped, strangled, and murdered in Texas. As soon as the man dies, the little girl will still be dead. There is a team of people who have to practice putting him and others to death. Their bodies and souls won’t care how deserving the man is. I know a lot of “conservative” Catholics who love to say, “The Church is right about everything” when it’s homosexuality or contraception, but this one, they grab a tray at the cafeteria.

 Jesus speaks of a narrow gate or way, and few find it. It leads to life. The wide gate or way leads to destruction, and many find it. This is a hard saying. I have to conclude that Hell is real, and that more end up separated from God, than united to him. I’m not the final interpreter here—thank you, Jesus, for the Magisterium—but that’s a plain reading of this text, and a few others. Jesus in the Gospels is the lens to interpret literally everything else in the Bible, because He is the Word, the beloved Son of the Father, Lord of the Sabbath, and everything else. How empty or full either Heaven or Hell are—other than saying an empty Hell wouldn’t need to exist, for one—is wasting time. You can drive yourself crazy with fear, and activities designed to mitigate or manage the fear, to little effect. We can have moral certainty of being in a state of grace by examining our conscience, and going to Confession if necessary. Beyond that, we have to trust in the mercy of God. If God wer...

 Alito went on for 40 extra pages about how to constitutionally pass muster with the Court. But Warnock and the rest of the Democrats would rather scream “racist, racist!” than do their bloody jobs. But that’s a far Left that’s grown accustomed to achieving their ends through the Courts, since they have given up persuading fellow citizens, either to win the presidency, or pass legislation. “Sad!” you might say.

 Progressives (unreasonably liberal Democrats) are having a freak-out over the Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, where the Court (6-3) ruled that a map creating a second “majority-minority” district was racially discriminatory. A key finding was that the motive was primarily racial justice (or someone’s idea of racial justice). The government can only specifically use race as a factor if the congressional district: 1. Addresses a specific, measurable harm; and  2. is not otherwise discriminatory in intent. Failing that, “strict scrutiny” under the Equal Protection clause of the 14th Amendment is triggered, and there are only a couple scenarios where government action could be justified, neither of which were present here. I want to add in a couple things I know/believe that can shed further light on the majority opinion: 1. Most analysts do not believe Black majorities are required to elect Black candidates. I learned in college that a critical mass of about 30 p...

 I know the words to the Canadian national anthem. I grew up watching hockey. You’re not a true hockey fan, if you don’t know Canada’s anthem. It’s short and to the point, anyway. The Buffalo Sabres of the NHL have both anthems sung, regardless of whether they are playing a Canadian team. (It’s customary to sing both, if the visiting team is from the other country.) Their home ice is less than 10 minutes from Canada, so a good number of their fans are Canadian. They are our neighbors and friends to the north. Since most NHL teams are in the United States, I think we should honor Canada like this.

 We have been fighting against factions and spiritual elitism from the very beginning. The thing about public revelation is that it’s public. Jesus wants everyone to know. Heaven is so important to complete our being that the Great Commission makes sense. Water baptism in the Triune Name, and obedience to the teachings of Jesus. Simplifying spiritual practices so that His Apostles could literally reach around the world. A priest serves the teaching mission of the Bishop. A priest without his bishop is a sheep without a shepherd. Fr. Chad Ripperger wants to tell you that the obvious stuff isn’t enough; he wants to make you think that you need special knowledge—his special knowledge—in order to be a saint. At best, he is dangerously misguided; at worst, he is a wolf. The only thing you really need to know about exorcisms is that they exist. Anything more is dangerous. The true child of the Church obeys. The priest obeys the bishop; the bishop obeys the Successor of Peter. And so on. ...

 You could remind me that the paragraphs in the universal Catechism have different levels of assent they require of us, and consequently, the formulations are only as true as the teachings they rely on. And that’s true. But I am not a PhD, for one, and practically, levels of assent don’t help most people. When I read the Catechism, it is my intention to believe what the Church teaches, to understand what the words mean as best I can, and if I can’t understand, to seek those with more faith and/or knowledge than I have. Frankly, though I have great zeal for our faith, I have never been able to consent to the label “traditionalist.” It seems to be a habit of mind that supposes that the Church in her spiritual dimension can err, and that the men set apart by God to govern and teach us are not owed submission or deference in any respect. Moreover, there is a conceit that a purer time in the past existed, and that if we draw from this alone, we will be unstained by the world. Yet all th...

Let’s get right to the point: Is it acceptable to ask God to end our suffering, even though God shows us the true nature of everything through it? Good question. I say yes. Physical pain is a reminder of death in a groaning creation. It is—rather inconveniently—the result of original sin. God uses everything for our good, including suffering and death. But He doesn’t grant a goodness in itself to either of those things. We’re not dualists. We don’t want the proclamation of God’s goodness and wisdom to confuse us. We must endure suffering, but there need not be a necessity in itself for suffering. And if you think about it some, it makes sense. He couldn’t promise to wipe away every tear from our eyes, if sorrow had some inherent value. Death, thirst, every other privation, is not necessary, strictly speaking. God’s will gives it purpose, and thus, direction. Therefore, I am a spiritual being whose hopes and desires ought to reach to the highest Heaven, but I am also a creature trapped ...

 To state the obvious, Muslims are not Christians, because among other things, Christians worship Jesus Christ as God. Moreover, we say they have distorted the Hebrew Scriptures. Theologically, it’s so deterministic in a philosophical sense that John Calvin would cry. Somewhat alarmingly, The Atlantic reported in an essay that perhaps 20 percent of worldwide Muslims would be willing to engage in violence to advance their religion. To be completely fair to that point, one out of five is not a good number. On the other hand, I have met plenty of ordinary Muslims here in America. I wouldn’t get scared in Dearborn at a mosque, or at a fencing club near Savannah. I just wouldn’t. I don’t know what the demons are up to ordinarily, and it would be incredibly self-serving to imagine that of course the Muslims are infested with demons, whilst I and my co-religionists are beloved of God. But let’s cut the mess: the Catholic Church teaches that Muslims, Christians, and Jews all worship the sa...

 I can't remember exactly when I picked up a book by St. Teresa of Avila, but I was too young in faith to understand it. It was The Interior Castle, and I definitely thought she was nuts. The spiritual life goes forward, and then things become clearer. I had another book by a British nun named Ruth. I guess one feels more freedom to speak plainly in the same spiritual family. Sr. Ruth definitely didn't agree all the time with St. Teresa. What follows is some speculation based in my reading and direct experience. I think physical suffering is to separate the soul from the world. I use "the world" in the negative sense that St. John the Evangelist does when he refers to "the world, the flesh, and the devil." That is, everything opposed to God. Everything in normal human experience teaches us that pain is bad. It's in fact a really good indicator that something is wrong. Pain and problems unresolved lead to death. It's normal. We are destined to die, in...

 I appreciate the efforts of the leaders at the school where I once worked to discourage the students from drinking, from drinking and driving, and riding home with anyone who has been drinking. And now that I don’t work there, I can say one more thing freely: You don’t have to have sex, either.  If you choose not to, you’re not weird. Even if you’re 17 or even 18, you have a right to not be ready. I have often been told that pastors don’t preach about it in the churches. I think we were so worried about not seeming “judgmental” that we’re forgetting to mention that unmarried sex is a sin, according to both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. God is ready and willing to forgive *anything* you have done. And you can always start over. Sometimes we feel guilty about things, and we’re unable to forgive ourselves, in a way. So it becomes easier to pretend that others are trying to make us feel guilty, when we’re doing it ourselves. Remember, my beloved students: I loved you alw...

 I’m gonna help you with this, and I don’t need a dubious degree in a dubious discipline to do it. What is a “boy band”? If it’s white/Latino/Asian kids singing Black music, or pop in a Black style, it’s a boy band. We know it, but we don’t say it. If it’s Black kids doing the exact same thing, it’s a vocal group. It might not even be fair, but that’s how it works. It’s even more obvious if the audience is pre-teen or teenage white girls. That’s a boy band. You might feel slightly embarrassed to put on really old New Edition; awkward songs about youthful crushes. But they did OK after that. I don’t have any Backstreet Boys albums; I just don’t. Why? I wasn’t their audience. That’s why Andy Samberg getting criminals to sing “I Want It That Way” was really funny; we know he’s twisting a gender and sex boundary, even if we don’t say it. This is your “JK Liberal Post Of The Week.” Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

 For the record, I am only part-way into season 3. And a lot of people who probably go to a lot of therapy are really inspired by it. I suppose that’s fine; I can’t claim my eyes have stayed dry the whole time. But it’s a comedy primarily, and it’s actually funny. Those of sensitive conscience will be out; it’s got strong language. But I speak Swear natively, so I hardly noticed. It’s about a soccer team in England who hires an American football coach as a gag, but Ted isn’t a bumbler, and it starts to work. You’ll like these people, and you should. I have been a teacher and a coach, so I know that motivation is the true key to success, and Ted Lasso absolutely believes it, too. Brett Goldstein as Roy Kent is the best character on Anglo-American TV this side of Alec Hardy. He’s crass and endearing, and it just works. I saw him in a Sesame Street clip, and I just got happier not long ago. Goldstein was originally just a writer on the show, and he said, “I think I’m Roy,” and he cert...

 These liberal politicians just grind my gears. The police are part of the system, but at the top of that system is capital punishment. No major Democrat has moved against it. They’re the Government Is Good Party, but they can’t even move against the supreme expression of state power, which is unnecessary. Rural cops haven’t been leading in extrajudicial killings since like 1930, but on and on they rail about rural Republican love of guns. Mark Shea is intellectually useless, but Greydanus might stand to notice that New Jersey isn’t quite as wide open as say, Utah, or Kansas. I’d be way more afraid of guns, too, if my neighbors were on top of me. And mental health plays a role in almost all these mass shootings, too. Personally, I am all for more spending on mental health. Maybe we can use the annual subsidy that Planned Parenthood gets.

 Let me preface this by saying that my general sense of the social doctrine of the Catholic Church seems to advocate for a social democratic state that would terrify Ronald Reagan, to say nothing of American “conservatives” today. But. One funny little aspect that throws a wrench into various left-wing dreams AND Tom Darrow’s advocacy for a UBI: The dignity of work. We could probably do everything conceivable along the lines of preventing disastrous externalities—and it’s probably right and good to do so—but a UBI can’t replace a minimum wage, because it’s not a wage. Wages and salaries get paid for work that gets done. We could make a Basic Needs Floor or something, but that’s not a wage. Looking forward to where this goes.

 But Dr. Bryan Cross of Mount Mercy University was my Confirmation sponsor. And taught me RCIA/OCIA. He’s a credentialed expert on Alasdair MacIntyre. Some of it possibly rubbed off. Dr. Lawrence Feingold was my teacher, also. He’s a  Thomist. A group of folks spent hours at Larry’s reading the Summa. I don’t mind zucchini because of dinners there, and I can read St. Thomas without wanting to curl into the fetal position. Maybe that makes me a Thomist.  You just gotta read him; no easy way to become a Thomist. You can be guided by a great teacher through Aquinas, but you’re not a Thomist until Thomas is your teacher. When you can anticipate what he would say—or flat-out recite it—you’re a Thomist. Pastor Timothy Butler of Little Hills Church in St. Peters, MO is absolutely a Thomist. I think he thinks in Summa article format. Good quirk to have. [Oddly, he’s not Catholic.] He oddly is a lot of other things, though! I’m willing to lose a bet that Tom Darrow has read the Su...

 It’s probably insane to mark the time when I was about 20 as “the good ol’ days,” but if you think about it, unless you’re sick, being 20 is generally awesome. I didn’t fornicate with any women, so I can’t talk about that. I’m a massive nerd, who was the type to learn whilst entertaining himself. I never belly-laughed at Dennis Miller, but I appreciate him. The forerunner of every rightist trying to be funny. A conservative Republican at his/her best knows something you don’t. He’s not depressed; he leaves that for you, liberal. I will say Gutfield is trying too hard; when The Five was first on, it was hilarious. Conservatives aren’t funny when they’re aggrieved; they’re funny when you’re aggrieved. I don’t have anything to say really about the Pope and Vice President Vance. It wasn’t a smooth move for a general election, when the Catholic vote—both observant and otherwise—will be crucial. You can totally see Marco Rubio getting photographed at Mass, hugging his Bishop, and carryi...

 I always fear that my friend Tom Darrow, lately of Denver, Colorado and now presumably Iowa, cannot follow my chaotic digressions. But he seems to hold up well enough. [You probably shouldn’t give him your private message novellas late at night; he has a family, you scumbag.—ed.] Well, I used to rely on the forced generosity of the Mountain time zone; now, I am legitimately just trash. Anyway, I had a point, other than shouting out Tom. Being on the Right like 25 years ago at the dawn of the internet age was wild. Instapundit was the blogger version of the New York Times. And from there, you could go to Blackfive and Ace of Spades for military blog posts, James Lileks for culture and humor, some chick named Virginia who was in tech or something who was attractive and interesting, and on and on. Kausfiles was linked, and I am sure liberals thought and think he’s a betrayer, but those were the days that Democrats could outright win national elections. No, seriously. It used to be a ...

 Barry Manilow is a great songwriter, producer, and performer. His most famous songs are ones he didn’t write. “Mandy” and hilariously, “I Write The Songs” are the obvious examples. But he did write “Looks Like Me Made It.” Now, I love that bloody song; the lyrics and chorus just ring somehow. Yet I got to thinking. That’s the exact song that made me realize Manilow is gay. If he’s got actual sexual experience with women back there somewhere, I stand corrected. But no healthy heterosexual man—if you will forgive the term—would openly say anything like this, and especially not when he’s supposed to marry someone else. Maybe most people are recklessly…active, and I’m naive. But most of his records are kinda heteronormative in a way that isn’t convincing. With all due respect. Granted, pop singers aren’t known for continence and fidelity. But if say, Lionel Richie had been closeted gay for 40-odd years, I’d be stunned.

 I said that the Left had a presentation problem, and that is not quite right. First, a couple anecdotes: 1. I read once that 86 percent of babies aborted in New York City are Black; 2. Gov. JB Pritzker, someone with presidential aspirations, and whose state contains one of the largest cities in America, signed a bill authorizing euthanasia in Illinois. (Pope Leo XIV is a Chicago native.) Two literal examples of genocide, if not in intent, in result. Even the people who caved and used IVF or condoms one time know that we’re in a spot. Even if you can be funny on Colbert, you’re not “just one of the folks” if you support a genocide. Before you support single-payer healthcare (all the government), what are you going to say when that euthanasia becomes involuntary? Meanwhile, some Christians make a big fuss about various “visibility days” related to LGBTIA issues. Before I go on, let me say this as carefully as I can: I can show respect and even sympathy for people who are struggling—...

 Trump is Trump, and “appalling” and “blasphemous” are probably apt descriptions. But someone I know started a statement like the title of this post. I reject it as Marxist ideology, as if a person with a certain skin tone must think a certain way, and must be in eternal conflict with white people. It’s everywhere; it’s almost embedded in “mainstream” liberalism. Personally, I have opposed Trump at every turn. I’m not going to accept him as the logical outcome of a “white” view of the world, as if that also exists. A certain type of evangelical just falls into this ideological capture, because they are apocalyptic about everything, including politics. No “we lost today, but we’ll get them the next time.” No cooperation for the good of the city. Good guys and bad guys. The right-wingers do the same thing in reverse.

What if most of this phrase is political and cultural bullshit?  There is probably a theobro somewhere who agrees with me. I’m not one of them; I think women should vote, and have driver’s licenses and credit cards and whatever. I think “bodily autonomy” is a trash euphemism that means, “I think it’s perfectly acceptable to murder the results of my sexual promiscuity, because sexism, or whatever.” Something very close to 99 percent of all intentional pregnancy terminations are elective. Those three words before “are elective” are precisely chosen, so I don’t get into a pointless equivocation with the latte-drinking girly-boy husband of an exvangelical, because they like to conflate medical terms with common usage ones to sound smart. I don’t know “Allison,” maybe traditional Christianity seems “hurtful” because you slept with your boyfriend in college, and every time you open a Bible, you feel guilty. Except when Pastor Ben displays that verse about immigrants from the Old Testamen...

 Someone had the audacity to “gently” suggest that I had a “seething rage” as I wandered into—let’s call it a “progressive circle of self-congratulation.” Too bloody right, I was angry. First of all, every voter in America deserves at least the presumption of rationality. Every single one. I can remember thinking that John Kerry was the most timid follower, a guy more worried about seeming normal than speaking plainly, even to us conservatives at the time. News stories about him calling that paragon of virtue and the life of the common citizen, Bill Clinton, to talk to people. And with a haughty arrogance I was pretty sure that I would never see again. What a profoundly entitled idiot, in the classical sense. Even so, if you didn’t like the Bush administration, what are you going to do? They don’t have to invite him over for dinner or drinks; he was almost the president. I absolutely cannot think that I would dislike every Kerry voter in the same way. I would have personally been p...

 Well, I guess at least Minneapolis can say ICE stopped killing people long enough for their politicians to return to being utterly frivolous. A Councilman Chavez—fine, I think his name was Jason, leave me alone—wants us to apologize for our “bigoted” past in shutting down bathhouses in the early years of the AIDS crisis. OK, Camera 3. Pick 1: Either Reagan was insensitive for ignoring a disease that especially ravaged the homosexual community; or 2. We naively pretend that the whole disease and countless others—I’m sorry, “infection”—hit all of us equally. A digression, before I continue: I’m actually glad we were at least a little naive and sentimental about it, because it did kill a lot of people who were conventional but “sexually prolific.” Anyway, public health can’t afford to be politically correct, man. A doctor should be able to say, “I am not the Inquisition or the police, but this is risky behavior, and if you want to live longer, think about not doing it.” And listen, I...

 I’m still piqued; prepare yourself. I don’t go soft on Catholic and Christian teachings for pastoral or outreach reasons. I’m not qualified probably to “rank” the sexual sins for you, but with apologies to Mark Shea, whole buckets of Trump tweets (or whatever we’re gonna call them) don’t change our sexual ethics. And at the risk of being extremely piquant, you can’t pay me to use that patronizing phrase, “gay people.” I haven’t met anyone who said it routinely who wasn’t fully ready to sell Church teaching down the river. Either because they don’t see the intentional conflation of person and action, or, sadly, they are chasing influence as a “nice Christian” who wouldn’t risk offending the “marginalized” at any time. On the other hand, I can’t and don’t watch EWTN anymore; I am somewhat humorously afraid Raymond Arroyo will jump out and force me into the GOP again. And let’s cut the crap; beyond health care and food stamps, if America’s left-center party doesn’t scare you, you’re ...

 Let me stop you right there, friend. I don’t “identify as” Christian; I am one. Baptized in the Triune Name nearly 25 years ago. I choose not to deal with other foolishness related to the language of “identify as” at this time.  More to the point, I will not apologize for Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth, Paula White, or anyone else in the administration. You know why? I’m not them. Every human being baptized as a Christian is potentially an embarrassment to everyone else in the Body of Christ on the regular. The sheer arrogance of assuming that you should do this, because someone 1. Does something bad or that you disagree with; and 2. is holding political power, is truly breathtaking. I just need John Pavlovitz, Ben Cremer, and Joash Thomas, (and other notable people of the Christian Left) and acquaintances Rebecca Miller and Lindsay Wilkins, to understand that—even if I had voted for President Trump—I speak for myself, and only myself.  I have NEVER accosted an Obama voter, ...

 Jesus says some amazing stuff. Jesus says some stuff that you're like, "I don't know about that one, Jesus" at first. And then he says weird God-man stuff that we can easily miss, that if you had the job to think about it, you'd just have your mind blown over and over. Jesus just says this, and leaves us to pick up the pieces. "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself." It's totally fine to say it in this instance: "O my God!" This is why the Eucharistic Sacrifice isn't a new one; this is why all those verbs at the tail end of St. Paul's teaching on the Supper (1 Cor. 11:23-30) are present tense. It's why the Passover rites even today are present tense. Because the Cross is now. Then, but now. No wonder they dared to call it a "propitiatory sacrifice" at Trent. No Christian believes Jesus' atoning work is just a memory. You'd better not! And let me ask you: are you simply remember...

 This 1961 blockbuster film--it made more than 5 times what it cost to make--with an amazing all-star cast is a recreation of the so-called "Judges' Trial," part of the wider war crimes trials at Nuremberg after World War II. It's another one of my obsessions of late. I think a guy who has a chance to teach social studies in high school had better be decently well-versed in the details of that war and its aftermath. I do find that pop culture still has a role in humanizing certain things from long ago, especially since we will soon lose everyone who fought or experienced that war. (And it's a great film! And naturally, most teachers are huge nerds, and those of us in the liberal arts rarely stop thinking of our subjects.) Maximilian Schell won the Academy Award for Best Actor in his role as Hans Rolfe, defense counsel for the four Nazi judges on trial. Despite engaging in some contemptible tactics during the trial, Schell manages to make Rolfe almost likable. [Sch...

 If you recall, The Winds of War was published in 1971, and Herman Wouk wrote the follow-up, War And Remembrance, in 1978. The books became celebrated miniseries in 1983 and 1988, respectively. I saw The Winds Of War by pure luck, when Netflix allowed us here in the US to stream it. It could have been 2013 or 2014; Donald Trump was a weird cameo actor, not a politician. Anyway, it's one of my obsessions now. It worms its way into your mind and heart before you realize it. One thing you notice is how the shadow of the Nazi evil just hangs over the story. We get to see how low-level distaste for Jews--like Clara Young in the German railway station--will be used by the Nazis for their own purposes. If we do not affirmatively love those in danger--risk ourselves for them--evil will find them. The professor Aaron Jastrow doesn't perceive the danger in his immigration status until far too late. The diplomat August van Winnaker has a low-level disdain for Jews that he masks in concern...

 I have ignored the latest events in Minneapolis, because it does not serve to make bold pronouncements and attach the name of Jesus to them. To leave no room for a variance of interpretation is its own form of blasphemy. I will say that I'm praying for the soul of Alex Pretti, and everyone affected by his death. I can also say that the general restrictionism of the administration and its deportation quotas increases the chances that innocents get caught up in the web of immigration enforcement. I once heard that faithfulness was a long obedience in the same direction. I think evangelicals find that boring. That's why "Red" evangelicals like to pretend they are being persecuted by a desperately wicked left-wing secular government--even if this narrative isn't wholly meritless--and "Blue" evangelicals like to pretend that this administration is the reincarnation of the Third Reich, even attaching the name "Gestapo" to ICE, and all of its actions...

 My brother from another mother, Nathan H., made a highly pertinent comment on my post, "Jesus' Skin Color (Again)." Essentially, we can venerate a White icon of Jesus, as long as we're equally ready to venerate any other one as well. I am, and I have. It got me to thinkin': Anyone remember a comedy skit where the dude is praying in a church, calls upon Jesus, and a legit Black American Jesus shows up? I wanted to laugh, but it does get uncomfortable at points. Jesus is Jesus; we gotta be careful, because His character is still something we're bound to, and that's easy to mess up whilst making a point. Jesus is a Jew, for clarity's sake, so I'd be as stunned if he looked Swedish (Sorry, Max) as I would if he looked West African. But I'm expecting brown, for the record. I want the Apostles to make fun of us in Heaven: "Man, there are a lot of really white people here! I'll bet they didn't like the sun on the old Earth!" There a...

 I've known people whose faith is way too entwined with politics. I've known priests and pastors who can pick out who will leave, if they cross one of those political shibboleths. I've seen political "arguments" that are so simplistic and so bad that it scares me. As an image or an idol, I can grant you that MAGA Jesus exists somewhere. The problem with some of you is that you don't think the opposite image exists. NPR Jesus? Is it too unfair to maybe call it Colbert Jesus? Granted that human beings are disturbingly good at worshipping idols. In a rare attack of good sense, John (Jean) Calvin said that the human heart was an idol factory. But maybe we don't have to go around accusing each other of the most damnable and scandalous errors all the time. Do politics better. Listen. Try to debate issues better. Try to understand each other better. And fight it out in the political arena, shake hands, and do it again next time. Let me note once again that presid...

 Stand-up comedian Dan Cummins has a brilliant bit about getting out of jury duty. In it, he says, "I get paid to make snap judgments about people, and stickin' to 'em, and I plan on doing that here in this courtroom." It's funny, but it's true. Pay attention to how often ignorance  is part of a bit. Nate Bargatze is the absolute master of, "I'm so dumb, and it's funny." Smart people have to turn off their gift to enjoy it sometimes. Because if they colonized a planet, it would be called "Well, Actually." Deep knowledge kills a lot of jokes, and so does nuance. I remember the day I stopped enjoying Stephen Colbert's Trump humor. It was in the midst of the Russian collusion narrative, and maybe something Tom Darrow posted from an official report got read by me. And I happened to catch Colbert's monologue that night. Let's put aside the fact that if Trump were as bad as Colbert and his audience thinks, it wouldn't be f...

 The last 10 years or so has been a grand demonstration of the Dunning-Kruger effect, especially as the internet and associated technologies have democratized information. I'm not a fan of the consequent populism, either here in the US, or worldwide. I went to college. I believe in vaccines. I would have hoped Q-Anon was a 12-step program for people obsessed with the actor John de Lancie. [Aren't you in that?--ed.] Hey, we're not talking about me right now, OK? But the problem with public health for quite a while is that even though you'll never lose money betting on the stupidity of a large group of people, actual persons hate when you talk down to them. These experts do it all the time. And they think they have to lie to ordinary people in order to get them to make the right choice. Seriously, don't do that. The WHO is this arrogance on steroids. I can't think of one time I have thought, "My life would be so much worse, without the World Health Organizati...

 It's part troll, part ploy. President Trump thinks like this: "I want the rest of NATO to fund their own defense. Who is the most credible threat to any other NATO country?" The US. He'll say some blustery stuff, but he wants the Europeans to arm themselves. He also knows that the press will overreact to everything he says and does. He's counting on it. For the record, I am nevertheless appalled. I would never act like this. I'll be glad when these days are ended. But the first principle in realpolitik, or foreign policy realism, is to assume rational actors. If the president is not sick or crazy, he's trying to get out of the Cold War framework.

 Skip down to Section 4. The president himself or herself ends up being the final arbiter in most scenarios that s/he is able to discharge the duties of the office. I do not see 2/3 of both houses of Congress declaring a permanent incapacity here. President Biden was clearly struggling, and we didn't get close to a 25th Amendment scenario. In addition, President Trump's unorthodox methods to achieve fairly sensible ends are well-known enough that the current cycle could be argued to be part of that, i.e. re-armament of NATO. It will be extremely hard to prove that he's literally out of his mind.

 Much like the two notable works of le Carre in the so-called "Karla Trilogy," Herman Wouk's "The Winds Of War" and "War And Remembrance" were made into celebrated miniseries that aired on TV. Also like the George Smiley stories, Wouk's televised adaptations are now barely distinguishable from the books he wrote. Robert Mitchum gives a masterclass in minimalist acting that perfectly captures "Pug" Henry as written. Polly Bergen must have understood the frivolous and irritable Rhoda Henry, because she's expertly unlikable. There was a lot of criticism of the casting choices, because the actors were much older than their characters in general. However, I think it works, because young people of these generations were more mature than people of 1983, or of young people today. I actively dislike Natalie Jastrow, but this testifies to how good Ali MacGraw was. On the one hand, Byron Henry is a loafer and a bum, so he deserves Natalie, good ...

 As a simple explanation, the nature of the dispute between Protestants and Catholics can be illustrated by what we do with the creeds and councils. For the Catholic, the Nicene Creed is a definitive dogmatic declaration from the Church founded by Christ, concerning the nature of God and His work in the world. The definition of Chalcedon more specifically focuses on Christology: the hypostatic union, the two natures--divine and human--united in the divine Person Jesus Christ. Again, for the Catholic, these definitions must be true, because God in Christ is protecting the Church which declares them. Likewise, the Holy Spirit takes from what belongs to Christ, and declares it to us, to paraphrase John's Gospel. For the Protestant, the conclusions of these Councils are deemed true, and explicitly taught in the Scriptures. Since the Catholic Church believes everything she teaches is taught in the Scriptures, we have no cause to disagree. However, as we have argued for about 5 centuries...

 I was functionally fired from my teaching job in November, 2024, after an unjust administrative "process" initiated by HR , and triggered by false accusations the content of which I was never told. My "defense" therefore could have no reasonable basis or direction. I won't say the name of the Local Education Agency, but the town where I lived and worked was Cheraw, South Carolina. I think that once I was on administrative leave, they could use nearly any indiscretion of mine as the final straw to remove me. I did connect with students on social media in protest, and I did express hope that I would quickly be returned to the classroom. The principal of the high school where I worked--a true lackey of the bureaucracy, and fully committed to educational ideas, methods, and solutions that don't work--also allowed his personal dislike of me to take the form of a belief that I was a substandard teacher. He gave me an unsatisfactory review on October 12, and we ha...