My horror anthology goes off to the printer today. So that basically means that I still have to wait for the proof copy to come, and then I get all the fun of playing find-the-typos and I have one more chance to scruple about the text before it becomes available. So here’s the line-up: Against Nature – A pretentious nihilist martyrs himself to the destruction of nature. Catastrophic Beauty – In the aftermath of a Lovecraftian apocalypse, an artist creates... Read more
There was a comment that was left a while back that I never got around to answering because it was too complex for a com-box. It concerned the claim that reproductive sex (male and female) is a fact, not a social construct. The commenter pointed out that categories are socially constructed, even if they are based on facts – and this is basically true. However, since the question is highly fraught when it comes to matters of sexuality, I’d like... Read more
I've spent the day proof-reading a collection of my own stories – most of them horror. It's an interesting experience, to see what things have been pulled up from the depths of my mind over the years. Read more
For arcane and inscrutable reasons, I keep going on-line to try to find useful advice on how to manage the various discomforts and irritations associated with being pregnant for the ninth time in 15 years. Naturally, all articles on pregnancy assume that you are a first time mom with lots of capital to spend on preggy pillows and trips to the spa. Read more
This began as a reply to Max Lindenman’s post Contra Mindy Selmys but it was kind of transformed in the course of listening to the readings at Mass today which invite us to reflect on the apocalypse. A great deal has been made in the media recently about the apocalyptic ambitions of ISIS. I won’t pretend that I know anything about Islamic theology (I don’t), or about how the apocalypse figures into it. I suspect that asking that question about... Read more
I grew up in a neighbourhood with a lot of Muslim immigrants, and as I think about the events in Paris tonight I can't help but feel heavy hearted both for the French people and for the many peaceful Muslims who are going to face the brunt of renewed Islamophobia in the days and weeks to come. Read more
The atheist believes that God is an unlikely being, almost certainly a fiction, and therefore the burden of proof rests on the theist. The theist believes that the almost universal human experience of the supernatural makes the existence of God highly likely, the burden lies on the atheist to disprove humanity's perennial conviction that we live in a God-haunted world. The result is an impasse. Read more
I’ve been thinking recently about militant atheism, and in particular about Richard Dawkins’ video The Root of All Evil? Specifically, I’ve been thinking about the kind of intellectual snobbery that so often characterizes the atheist vs. Christian debate and the way that atheists like Dawkins play on people’s contempt for ignorant or foolish people in order to make Christianity look bad. It’s something that comes up again and again, and usually the response of intellectual Christians is an understandable, but... Read more
This is a talk that I gave this weekend for a marriage retreat. There are two dimensions of the role of friendship in marriage that I want to address. The first is the role that friendship between the spouses plays in keeping a marriage strong, especially during difficulties, and the second is the role of other friendships in supporting strong marriages. So we have a cultural narrative in our society that says that romantic love is the highest and greatest... Read more
There’s been some discussion around Patheos about David Mill’s article over at Aleteia. The basic thrust of Mill’s reflection is that it’s easier for wealthy Catholics to practice the Church’s teaching on contraception than it is for poorer Catholics. Now, Doctor Popcak has pointed out that “openness to life” doesn’t necessary mean a large family. You know, because NFP. I’ve written before about the problems with natural family planning as a reliable means of avoiding pregnancy – there do seem... Read more
Catholic Authenticity
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