Scenes from a Police State (Florida)

Last updated on: November 22, 2013 at 3:08 pm By Eve Tushnet

from the Miami Herald: Earl Sampson has been stopped and questioned by Miami Gardens police 258 times in four years. He’s been searched more than 100 times. And arrested and jailed 56 times. Despite his long rap sheet, Sampson, 28, has never been convicted of anything more serious than possession of marijuana. Miami Gardens police have arrested Sampson 62 times for one offense: trespassing. Almost every citation was issued at the same place: the 207 Quickstop, a convenience store on... Read more

It’s the Feast of Saint Cecilia, So Here’s the Pet Shop Boys

Last updated on: November 22, 2013 at 2:58 pm By Eve Tushnet

She’s the patroness of musicians. Read more

St. Odysseus and St. Antaeus

Last updated on: November 20, 2013 at 3:00 pm By Eve Tushnet

A while ago I asked the wild world of Twitter what it wanted me to talk about, w/r/t the concept of vocation. One response was basically, “What’s the difference between discernment of vocation and navel-gazing?” That’s a pretty great question; the boring answer is probably “prudence” just like with everything else (BORING), but let me see if I have a bit more to say about it than that. The “emerging adulthood” model, which has all kinds of economic, social, &... Read more

“Five Ways Delivering Food Is Like Living in a Tarantino Movie”

Last updated on: November 20, 2013 at 1:53 pm By Eve Tushnet

Cracked is so variable these days so I figured I’d highlight a recent article I really enjoyed, by an author whose name I didn’t recognize. (The ones I always read are John Cheese and Kristi H, and I like a lot of Buchholz’s stuff too.) The final tipping story is just… a peek into the howling vortex of human evil. LOL! Read more

He Treats the Bible Like It’s Some Kind of Gospel Truth!: A Couple Scattered Thoughts

Last updated on: November 20, 2013 at 12:57 pm By Eve Tushnet

on Wesley Hill’s review of Christian Smith’s new book, a book I 100% haven’t read and doubt I would understand. Amateur night at the Apollo! It took me a while to grasp what Hill was doing with the example of the Catholic Church. He’s actually arguing, I’m pretty sure, that since Catholic doctrine has a lot of specific, settled positions which come from a Christocentric reading of the Bible but with which most evangelicals will disagree, you can’t escape Christian... Read more

A Story of Peacemaking in Prison

Last updated on: November 20, 2013 at 12:16 pm By Eve Tushnet

It’s framed as a post about John Howard Yoder, his work and his abuse of women, but I’m posting it because of the exceptionally compelling personal story: …I did not become peaceable by reading Yoder. That happened to me long before when I became Christian in prison. I was convicted of arson in 1994 and served four years in a state prison as a result. I was an angry and very violent young man when I entered. My hatred and... Read more

“What Classic, Orthodox Celibacy Isn’t”

Last updated on: November 20, 2013 at 12:01 pm By Eve Tushnet

at Spiritual Friendship: If we follow the tradition’s logic, celibacy cannot be a synonym for singleness. Classic, orthodox celibacy is not a solitary priest rattling around in an oversized rectory, or an isolated yuppie in a high rise apartment building a profile on an internet dating site, or a gay person toughing it out solo at Christmastime. All these are modern day tragedies, the kind of things which deserve compassion but which cannot be normative. Classic, orthodox celibacy is rather... Read more

“Why Should Thousands of Prisoners Die Behind Bars for Nonviolent Crimes?”: Liliana Segura

Last updated on: November 13, 2013 at 11:52 pm By Eve Tushnet

at The Nation: This past August, the Lafayette-based IND Monthly published a story about a 54-year-old man named Bill Winters, incarcerated at a medium-security prison in Epps, Louisiana. Winters, who is black, was arrested in June 2009, after he drunkenly entered an unlocked oncologist’s office on a Sunday morning, setting off a security alarm. When police arrived, he had rummaged through a desk drawer, and was in possession of a box of Gobstoppers candy. Winters was convicted of simple burglary... Read more

“Defiled”

Last updated on: November 13, 2013 at 11:28 pm By Eve Tushnet

very, very powerful post over at Mudblood Catholic: Though I’ve mentioned it briefly before, this was a really hard post to write. Warning: it contains language and subject matter that may be triggering for people who’ve experienced traumas. To make myself feel better, and probably alienate my readers in the process, I will be interspersing inappropriately amusing photographs. … When I was an adolescent, I was raped four times. Talking about it doesn’t make you feel better, but not talking about... Read more

Sandy Denny, “Late November”

Last updated on: November 13, 2013 at 11:22 pm By Eve Tushnet

what I’ve been listening to: Read more