The #ashtag controversy. Apparently some priests, and others, are doing selfies after receiving the ashes on Ash Wednesday. Eh. I’m sure we could read into it, but likely most aren’t thinking more than trying to use the latest to show their devotion. No different than being told to proudly display the ashes through the day. Our family could typically only go at night, so it didn’t usually apply to us. But when we could go earlier, we did. And... Read more
Is illustrated here: Yep. My older boys have already run into this. The idea that ‘you don’t have a right to offend me.’ Uh, yes I do. That’s freedom of speech. Or let’s just whittle it down to mere ‘freedom.’ Sure, I can not listen, disagree, argue the point, or even show you to the door if I deem you rude or obnoxious. But violence or, worse, calling for officials and institutions to punish wrong speak? Growing up, Voltaire’s famous... Read more
Is kicked around by Fr. Longenecker. It’s true, the Church is split. Just like the rest of the Faith. In a nutshell, it has to do with revelation or inspiration. Many on the Left, including Catholics, tend to accept that the Scriptures, the teachings, and the Church itself are man made. Inspired in the sense of a brilliant idea or a beautiful piece of music perhaps, but still from the mind of man. Traditionally, the Faith taught that these things... Read more
In spirit. During the era of Pope Francis, the focus has fallen on economic and material hardship and those causes for our suffering. That can be expected. If Pope Francis isn’t a liberation theologian, he’s clearly influenced by that particular school of thought. Not that he fails to point out the spiritual, but if we’re not careful, we can begin to think that being poor is ever and always a bad thing. It’s not, especially poor in spirit. Of course... Read more
We’re in Russia. Mike Flynn has a wonderful reflection on the world according to Russia. That our relationship with Russia has disintegrated over the years is obvious. It’s never been great, at least since most of the 20th century. That brief moment of friendship between Gorbachev and Reagan was a freakish exception. Almost immediately, as those two stepped aside, the strains began to show. Since the rise of Putin, it has gone downhill. But lest we put it all on... Read more
A time when the Church’s calendar drops a reminder on us that we are mortal. Not that we don’t know it. But sometimes life can become so hurried that we forget how fast we come and go. Ashes to ashes. In the greater scheme of things, the vast majority of us will long be forgotten a hundred years from now. Interred in some back corner of a cemetery with a modest grave marker that nobody will visit. A rare few have... Read more
Years ago I was at a conference, and had the pleasure of sitting next to a historian from L. America. Argentina, if I remember correctly. We talked about a variety of things, but usually ended up talking about history. At one point, we got to talking about his views of America (at that time, around 2006). He said like all countries, the US has its good and bad. But then he asked if I knew why so many people in... Read more
Bwa ha ha! https://youtu.be/WSCuGj0pIww I’m seldom one to crow over others’ misfortunes, but it serves them right. I felt sorry for Steve Harvey when it happened, and usually would have felt a little bad for Warren and Faye. But after a night of naked progressive agitprop, it was nice to see the evening’s efforts overshadowed by something else. Read more
I was saddened to hear of Bill Paxton’s death. I grew up with Mr. Paxton. Like most, my earliest encounter was with his small, but memorable, role in James Cameron’s Terminator. Though without realizing it, I had seen him in the strange video for Fish Heads years earlier. It was as the ever complaining, but ultimately valiant, Private Hudson in Cameron’s Aliens that Paxton first caught the public’s attention. The phrase ‘Game over man, game over!’ was a favorite quote that year.... Read more
Was a time when fundamentalists saying that demons were swarming around their political opponents were laughed at by everyone but fundamentalists. And sometimes even a few fundamentalists I knew could get a bit embarrassed by such things. Here, a pastor says he could sense the demonic at – wait for it – a Trump rally! Heh. How fundamentalist. At least by the appraisal I’ve known my entire life. What made me laugh was that it was in the Washington Post religion... Read more
Daffey Thoughts
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