We live in a strange age. It’s an age marked by contention, strife, and factionalism. This is true in the Church and in the realm of politics (both in the U.S. and in many other countries). You’ve got uncharitable pro-Francis and anti-Francis Catholics bashing each other, and uncharitable pro-Trump and anti-Trump Catholics bashing each other. So what’s going on, and what can we do about it? Here’s what Neil Postman, C.S. Lewis, and St. Paul might say about where we’ve gone wrong, and what we can individually do about it.
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Why the Seemingly Anti-Marian Passages in the Bible?
There are a couple of passages which, every time they come up in the Readings at Mass, admittedly make me cringe a little. The first is from Luke 8:19-21 (we just heard the parallel version from Matt. 12:46-50 at Mass on Tuesday): Then his mother and his brethren came to him, but they could not… Continue reading Why the Seemingly Anti-Marian Passages in the Bible?
The “3-2-1 Examen”: An Easy Way to Revolutionize Your Spiritual Life
Yesterday, I was on the local Catholic radio station here in Kansas City, and one of the topics that came up was growth in prayer, and in particular, the need for a nightly “examination of conscience” or “examen.” I shared the “3-2-1 Examen,” which I learned from a priest of Kansas City- St. Joseph, Fr.… Continue reading The “3-2-1 Examen”: An Easy Way to Revolutionize Your Spiritual Life
Burden-Shifting Protestants and Atheists
Protestants and atheists are dissimilar in most regards, and I suspect both sides would be happy with my making this observation. But there is one area in which the two groups behave all too similarly: a fallacious sort of burden-shifting argument. For purposes of this post, we’ll call it “the Norseman and the Atheist.”
How Should Christians Approach Patriotism?
Should Christians be patriotic? Is it a violation of their duties towards God, or an expression of those duties? And why does St. Thomas Aquinas speak of patriotism as a form of piety?
Does Limiting Abortion Access or Expanding the Social Net Better Reduce Abortion?
Broadly speaking, there are two major ways pro-lifers want to eliminate abortion: by making it legally harder (or impossible) to have an abortion; or by attacking the social problems that seem to make abortion more likely. Of these two approaches, which is more effective at actually eliminating abortion?
What Bishop Barron’s “Letter to a Suffering Church” Nails (and Misses) About the Sex Abuse Crisis
Bishop Robert Barron’s “Letter to A Suffering Church: A Bishop Speaks on the Sexual Abuse Crisis” was something other than what I was expecting. Initially, that was a bit of a letdown, but once I understood what the book was, I was able to get a great deal out of it. So here’s what I didn’t like, and what I loved.
A Faith in Vain: St. Paul vs. “Progressive” Christianity
How St. Paul might answer the latest “progressive Christian” attack on Biblical Christianity.
6 Things to Ponder About Judas Iscariot
It’s Holy Week, and we’re closing in fast on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Today is a day traditionally known as “Spy Wednesday,” because it’s the day in which we recall Judas Iscariot’s betrayal of Christ. It’s a reminder that we spend very little time thinking about Judas… perhaps because we don’t like what we’d… Continue reading 6 Things to Ponder About Judas Iscariot
Is Religion Just a Social Construct?
A new study suggests that moral religion only arises in societies that have hit a population of about 1 million people. What should we make of this claim, and does it prove that religion is just a social construct?