Labels are not concerned with the accurate description of people. In fact, they work against description by allowing us to avoid dealing with the person -- who is confusing -- by pointing to an abstraction -- which is simple. We replace the infinite, complex man with the immediately recognizable "liberal." This evident in that the labels "liberal" and "conservative" -- in themselves -- mean nothing. A man who is liberal is a man who allows, and a man who is conservative is one who … [Read more...]

The word "eternity" scares us post-Christians. It was no contradiction for atheists like Nietzsche to disavow the existence of God while simultaneously reveling in the idea of eternity, but now that popular atheism has been irretrievably wed to the idea that truth is only in the material world, and that physical science rightfully usurps all other forms of knowledge, a rejection of God has come to mean a simultaneous rejection of eternity. Why? Because if truth is only known through science, and … [Read more...]

This post will probably make a lot more sense if you read Is Female Purity Bullshit? and Is Purity Culture Sexist? first. Virginity is sexual. This is difficult to grasp in a post-Christian culture which lacks the social presence of nuns and religious sisters in daily life. We are educated to laud and await the day we'll misplace our all-too-clingy virginity, making it impossible to imagine a beautiful woman freely and joyfully giving up everything she owns, shaving her head, taking up … [Read more...]

When discussing purity as it relates to our awesome, sexually-liberated culture, it's best to begin with a brief history of the female breast. The bosom has been through a lot, but allow me to point out its place in two distinct time periods, one Christian and one post-Christian. According to the traditional feminist narrative, a heavily Christian culture that promotes purity -- and even virginity -- would be a culture busy repressing the hell out of the female breast, while a liberal, … [Read more...]

When I modify the word "Catholic" with some preceding description -- be it traditional Catholic, liberal Catholic, or faithful Catholic -- I do a disservice to the Catholic Church. Perhaps there are times when a concise modification is good, true, and beautiful, but on the off-chance that you -- like me -- are doing your Catholicism wrong, have a reason to quit your modifying: It's usually a reaction which unintentionally gives credence to the thing reacted against. I used to call myself … [Read more...]

Thanks so much to the Sophomore Class Council at Notre Dame for having me over to speak! It was wonderful meeting all of you, eating your food, sleeping in your library, talking to your squirrels, getting lost on your campus, praying at the Grotto, and generally wishing I'd worked harder in high school. For those who couldn't make it, here's a recording of the talk: I'd like to add that a lot more can be said here, and that -- watching the talk now -- I find myself rebutting myself, … [Read more...]

A guest post from my dear friend Andrew Oullette:   Many people that first hear the title of Mary as Coredemptrix think, "Wait. What?! Mary...Coredemptrix?! Blasphemy!" Yet we cannot be too quick to judge this title without looking at the meaning of the word Coredemptrix, the evidence for it in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, and discovering what it means to us as the Body of Christ that Mary is the Coredemptrix. Before we can say what Coredemptrix means we must first start by … [Read more...]

It is very, very good to be Catholic. We have the remarkable capacity to actually care about the conclave. The media, bless them, cannot fathom the explosion of love happening here, and are doomed to report with all the banality, divisiveness and cluelessness with which one goes about reporting an American presidential election. They're talking about the conclave, sure -- it's political ramifications, the potential ideological leaning of the next Pope, the "necessary" changes the Church needs to … [Read more...]

Young people are human. If we understood this reality we wouldn't have crappy youth ministry programs, worse catechesis, politicians on Twitter, the wild success of Ke$ha, and a bored and banal culture. But we do suffer these tortures, for we are convinced that being young and able to navigate Facebook transforms the human person into a locus around which the universe turns, the deciding, haloed blueprint for the construction of culture, religion, and politics. The Youth Vote, the Young … [Read more...]