A few years ago I found out that the pro-choice group, Catholics for Choice, were using stock photos of young, hip minorities to promote the idea that their message of catholicly-supporting-abortion had the support of cool people. They even put up their ads in Kenya so, you know, “ethnic folk” would have something to relate to: Shockingly, the Kenyan Catholic community were less than amped-up at being told what “good Catholics” do or do not do — and their resistance... Read more
The idea that our love can be bad makes us uncomfortable. Sure, we’ll enjoy a leering ode to “bad romance” or a woeful “addiction to love,” but these songs aren’t bold confessions of love’s ambiguity — they’re justifications of our own inability to keep our pants on. Their basic theme is one of erotic determinism: “I know you are bad for me” but I “just can’t stop,” I was “born this way,” I “can’t help myself,” for this love has “taken control of me.” The... Read more
The worst part about Trump is that, by being so obviously an ass, he has christened an entire population of thoughtless schmucks into politically-involved “liberals.” Taking pride in your political participation by being anti-Trump is like taking pride in your driving abilities because you don’t ram your truck into your neighbor’s sun-room every time you park. The worst part about Hilary is that she doesn’t exist. She is the vacuous lack of Trump that inspires the American voter. Somewhere between... Read more
There are those who would argue, with some justification, that LGBTQA movement need not concern itself with the intricacies of a philosophy of gender thanks to the urgency of its political concerns: Equality first, and we’ll work out the details later. But if we are to think before we act, we ought to think before we legislate, and if we are to fight for a cause, it is certainly to helpful to know what we want caused. The celebration over... Read more
You cannot see your face. You can look into a mirror, but a mirror can only give a mirror-image. You can take a photograph, but your photograph is flat. Besides, quantum theory applies to faces: The physicist only sees the position the electron takes as a result of its being measured. The mirrored-man only sees the position his face takes as a result of being placed in front of a mirror. The moment you step away from the selfie or... Read more
Whenever I have the grace and good fortune to call a woman beautiful, she derails the whole thing by calling me biased: “You think I’m beautiful,” she’ll say. This means, of course, “Thanks, you’re nice, and I’m tickled by your attention, but don’t forget, there’s a whole world out there, one that ain’t so familiar with my flat nose and vacant expression. While you might find my giraffe-shaped mole endearing (riddled with affection as you are) they might find it... Read more
Over at Those Catholic Men, I write: Budweiser beer cans are called ‘America’ now. Budweiser, of course, is owned by Anheiser-Busch, which is owned by AB InBev, an international Belgian-Brazilian company that produces Miller, Coors, Corona, Shocktop, Stella-Artois, Fosters — and most of the other beers you’d recognize. The result being that a corporation with neither place nor responsibility to any community is using our place, and the sentiments of community it invokes, to sell their beer. But before we... Read more
Start a tradition with me. Every week I’d like to recommend a book (pulp) and a record (platter) with some kind of internal connection. This week, I’m reading Wendell Berry’s collection of essays Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community. It was so thoughtful, so articulate, and so funny in its defense of a holistic view of the person, well, I wrote my first ever Amazon review of it. My favorite 3 quotes: 1. The sign of exceptionally smart people is that they... Read more
I wrote a piece arguing against the use of “real-life stories” as something opposed to principles. In reality, our lives are lived according to principles — any moral argument that depends on narratives for its substance simply sneaks in principles through the back door. Here’s what I forgot to mention: When personal narrative takes precedence over moral principles, the morally-justified man becomes the one with the greatest battery of relevant life-stories. This is hardly a novel concept. By now we’ve all... Read more
Dear Rothoof, I see from your admission form that you have a male subject this time — young, idealistic, and stuffed with simplistic insights into what’s Right and Wrong. Given that you’re under the watchful eye of the Disciplinary Board, the Probation Office, and the independently contracted Anti-Incompetence League, I thought it judicious to give you a few words of advice. You have an advantage concerning the youth of your prey. He thinks he is about to go out into the world... Read more
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